After A Fairy Tale
by F1-30 Neptune
Summary: All hope was lost for me. It never was the same after Fairy Tale. At my lowest point, the devil came to me in the guise of an old friend and gave me an offer. A new life for my old one? Well I ended up selling my soul to him and his domain in the underworld: The Mafia. A/R ending for the manga, has OC's and contains OOC.
1. Guns and Swords

Writing fight scenes are so difficult to make, especially for an inexperienced writer. So please bear with me! thanks!

* * *

A very familiar catchphrase that was always recommended before a devastating kick or any other forms of badassery was to be delivered: **"Know your place!"**

Moka didn't enjoy the feeling of being kicked, but if she was the one doing the kicking, then she'd usually have a blast. Not so much for the person on the receiving end…

BAM!

Said person was Tsukune. A very well placed kick in the abdomen was all that was needed to fling his body like a ragdoll through a row of trees.

Another hellacious day of training in what they called paradise.

The vampire felt a twinge of regret as she felt it was a little too overkill. Once the dust cleared, she took a moment to analyze the damage inflicted by her kick. All that were left was rows of sharp and splintered stumps with the trunks splayed across the ground. And at the far end was Tsukune's seemingly lifeless body slumped on a bent over tree, eyes shut tight and blood trickled down his chin like a half-opened faucet. Indeed it was overkill.

She ran towards him, scared and worried beyond doubt. But before she got close, surges of thick, demonic aura bathe the area. Then it suddenly died down and faded into the air. She looked back and Tsukune was gone.

Her youki sensor spiked up. Behind her!

"I don't know where my place is!"

Ura instinctively held up her forearms to block an incoming blow from Tsukune. The punch sent her sliding backwards on her feet and ripped trails on the ground.

He gave her no inch when lunged at her with fists balled up into lethal objects of pain.

_He's going out of control. Wait… The Shinso blood!_

She was backed up in a corner, unable to counter his fast swings without the chance of killing him in the process.

"Tsukune! Stop this!"

Every moment that she evaded or blocked his attacks, he was only getting more agitated. The Shinso blood had overridden his ethical reasoning and other higher levels of thinking, setting his instincts and emotions that he kept hidden, loose.

Ura ducked at a spinning heel kick, the wind tickling the hair on top of her head. If she hadn't evaded that kick, then her head would've been rolling on the ground by then.

She trained him well, too well. But not enough! Ura found an opening and sprung up, landing her fist on his chin with an epic uppercut, in a manner of speaking.

Even more blood spouted out of his mouth when his body flew upwards. In mid air, he bent his upper body enough to execute a backhand spring. Once his feet touched the ground, he quickly lunged at her again.

His attacks were unrelenting as Ura found out. He was gradually getting faster and faster and she found it more difficult to block his fast and heavy blows. Should she had still continued on blocking and evading and risk her life in the process or end it all there with one quick and merciful blow?

She grabbed his incoming fist and didn't intend on releasing her grip. He readied his left fist and launched it at her, but Ura smashed her foot on his abdomen to put a little distance between them before it could connect.

The two faced each other. Ura held a worried look, while Tsukune's was worn out yet determined.

Ura gathered demonic aura to her straightened hand, while Tsukune clenched his fists in eager anticipation.

In act of unexpectedness, Tsukune wagged his finger towards himself "Bring it."

And Ura had brought it when she vanished from his sight and reappeared behind him. The look on his face could be worded out as "Oh crap…" with his eyes wide and jaw agape. But all that shock soon turned into a wicked smile when he pivoted around and redirected her hand. It was his turn.

To say that she completely and utterly shocked was an understatement. She realized that she let herself be exposed with so many openings. He started out by ramming his fist into her gut.

"Then tell me where my place is!"

He smashed his fist onto the right side of her face "Tell me!"

And then her left "Tell me!"

Tears were streaming down his face and clouded his vision, his face red with anger as he readied the final blow "MOKA!"

Ura caught him in a warm embrace. His motions stopped and his tear filled rampage was put to an end. He dropped down on his knees and slowly wrapped his arms around her, completely breaking down in tears.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

She felt his fingers dig at her back and held him even tighter in response. Ura nuzzled her head up to his neck and sighed. "I don't need to tell you where your place is, Tsukune. Because you already know where: with me…"

Tsukune felt her tears trickling down his neck.

He was finally at peace with himself. All the insecurities and inferiority he felt were washed away. He smiled a gentle one before letting himself be cradled in her embrace before everything went black.

* * *

After A Fairy Tale

Chapter One

Every ruling figure needs someone to do their dirty work. It's natural that you want to have someone or something taken care of when you reach the top. That's where we come in.

Be it assassination, convoy, bodyguard duty, black market trading and so forth. We did it all, and earned the undying trust of every emperor and president that ruled over China since then, and we've been doing it for more than 200 years.

The Wong Mafia is an international group, but its loyalties belong to none. I, Wong Fong-Fong, the current head, can attest to that. We reach into a disagreement, your dead. Simple as that.

We are the leaders of the underground, along with our friendly rivals: The Shuzens. Due to the first head, the second Dark Lord, being close friends with Akasha Bloodriver, the first Dark Lord, who was coincidentally and unfittingly, the Shuzen head's second wife or 'mistress'.

Only a few select humans know about the existence of ayashi and should they ever reveal such classified information, we'll wipe them out, even if it was the ruling figure that we were serving.

Now a new era has begun and the Wong Mafia is striving even better at the underworld, more so when a personal friend of mine joined our ranks as the Wong Mafia's top 'errand boy'.

With all that said, let me set the record straight: The Wong family is never something to be trifled with. You hit us; we hit you back… with guns, missiles, teeth and enough magic to blow you up to kingdom come.

_Come shall the day  
When we will have our way  
'An eye for an eye…  
A tooth for a tooth…'  
As the ancestors say_

_As false as we shepherds may be  
Come shall the time when you will see  
The hell you have brought upon yourself  
For messing with the Wong Family_

\\\

Roppongi, Tokyo

"Over here." The old and miniature landlady motioned him to enter the apartment room.

The man stepped in and scanned the room. The apartment was small and run down. It had cracks on the walls and ceilings, dust settled and accumulated into cobwebs, and the paint on the room was washed over. Quite the luxurious lifestyle, but he'd manage. Then again, the only reason he was to live in such an unkempt environment was because of his current assignment. He grimaced inwardly.

"Boy, what was your name again?"

He smiled warmly and bowed his head "It's Takashi Imai."

"I heard from the real estate agent that you're from China, Takashi-kun. What was his name though…? Wong? Nah, I don't remember."

"_Hai, _but I'm just here for short time though."

"Well anyways…" the landlady handed him the keys "If you need anything, just call me." and walked towards the door.

"Domo arigatou gozaimasu."

Once she was out of sight, he dropped the friendly façade and set his bags down. He started by sliding open every drawer, opening every cabinet and checking behind corners and crevices for any sort of surveillance. He found none to his relief.

Once he was satisfied, he emptied out the contents of his bags. Clothes, his mafia uniforms, and two long O-tanto's still sheathed in their scabbards. And hidden under all those were two ornately decorated Desert Eagles, both having custom suppressors at the end of both their barrels.

The first one had a chrome plating and scrollwork engraved on the slide and frame. Hidden amongst the scrollwork was 'Yin' engraved in Chinese. The pistol grip had a black pearl coating and it also had Chinese characters written on it. And under the barrel was a black rail where an equally decorated slim laser sight lay attached, also chrome plated.

Moving on to the other pistol: it had all the features of the first one, only that it was black and it had custom Ivory grips. 'Yang', in Chinese, was engraved on the slide. Not long after his first day on the job had he received the pistols from Wong Fong-Fong personally, he'd been using them ever since.

He took out six magazines and loaded the guns, placing them on the bed afterwards. The curtains slid to the side and he opened the window, letting the cold air flow in. He sat on the window sill and stared at the scenery with the barest hint of somberness.

\\\

Tsukune wounded up going around Tokyo and to unknown places that he never even saw before, without even realizing it. He sped up on the highway in his motorcycle and continued on his path towards uncertainty. The clouds got dark and it meant only thing: rain. The young man was supposed to turn around till he got a look at where he was and realized that he was completely and invariably lost.

Clad in a black double buttoned coat with a shirt underneath, black jeans and leather knee high boots with pointed toes, he took a slight detour around and took a sharp right. Tsukune noticed something, the particular street that he was in seemed to have triggered memories deep down in his subconscious or whatever part of his brain. And then it hit him straight in the nuts, metaphorically speaking.

It was the street where he used to live in.

He continued on and the faintest of smiles suddenly crept on his otherwise somber expression as the memories started flowing back in. The ramen shop wherein every Sunday his parents would take him to, the game center where he used to waste his time at, and even the flower shop the old lady used to run, where he inadvertently bought flowers for his middle school crush. It was the place where he kept every sense of normality he had.

Then he took another curve.

And there it was: his house. That was still being occupied by his parents. He pulled on the brakes and he parked it along the sidewalk across his house. All he knew was that he didn't dare show his face to them after what he had done and what he became. But he just had to try.

The street was empty and held no sign that a vehicle was going to pass through. Clouds above him got even darker, barely able to contain its watery offspring, and set the gloomy atmosphere. His thoughts flew away as he bemusedly walked across the street.

He was so lost in thought that even his arm unconsciously sprung up. Then he got bombarded with memories that wrenched him back to reality just as his fingers were inches apart from the doorbell.

Drop by drop, rain slowly pelted down on his clothes and he pulled away and ran, taking refuge under a store canopy. His body slid down on the garage door and sat on the dry ground which was his safe haven for the meantime. He set his arms over his knees and buried his head in between.

\\\

A few hours later, the rain finally stopped and he was free to go back to wherever his apartment was.

It was nighttime when he finally got back and once he was there, he walked down the empty hallway and dug for his keys. Then he stopped, suddenly alert and tense. The door hung slightly open, with the lock smashed. His eyes narrowed and he opened up his coat, pulling out his guns from their holsters. Dim light peered out of the door as he cautiously entered the apartment.

"I hope you had fun time of making me wait all this time, errand boy Takashi Imai...No...Tsukune Aono."

He was immediately greeted by a young handsome man with pale skin, red eyes and black hair spiked up into a faux hawk. He was dressed in a black _Qipai_ style Chinese tunic suit with a dragon pattern embroidered on the right side, black pants and knee high boots. His hands were covered with black leather gloves and on his right hand he held a very long Nodachi.

"Who the hell are you?"

The man smiled and rubbed his chin "I'm Ryota Sakurai, Chief Manager of the Wong Mafia's Japan branch. I just wanted to see what you look like, is all. I imagined you'd be shorter, but I never expected you to be _this _tall, eh senpai?"

Tsukune didn't reply but instead gave him a cold glare. His hands tightened their grips on the guns handles.

The younger man's expression suddenly turned cold like his but then quickly shifted into a joyful one "Well, guess I should get going now." He said in a placid tone that contrasted to his appearance. His hand tightened on the Nodachi's scabbard.

"Yeah…" he looked him straight in the eye "I guess you should…"

Once Ryota brushed past him, red eyes flared up and Tsukune cracked a wicked grin.

SHINK!

CLICK!

In the blink of an eye both of them had their weapons pointed at each other. Ryota's huge ass and absurdly sharp nodachi pointed at Tsukune's neck and the green laser dot from Tsukune's silver gun sitting still between Ryota's eyes, while Youjutsu markings on his arms glowed brightly.

"Well what do we have here?" Tsukune asked in a deadpan tone.

Both of their demonic auras flared up, red eyes staring at each other unflinchingly. While Ryota held a serious expression, Tsukune's was a bit laid back , a complete opposite of his personality before, as he continued to send off massive amounts of sinister, dark aura thick enough to put a shinigami to shame.

"Let's get this straight Tsukune, are you a vampire or not? It's not that I hate you, it's just that I'm not used to working with someone that might be lower of class than me. For all I know you could be a fucking Dhampyr." vampire pride at its highest peak. Tsukune didn't even know that vampires like that still existed.

"Here we go again with the typical vampire bullshit. 'Lower than you'? Keep dreaming." But for a moment there he actually sounded like a 'typical vampire'.

Ryota slightly pushed the blade more so that it would poke the skin on his neck, but not enough for it draw blood. Tsukune slightly tensed up, but hid it well. He cocked back the hammer and pulled out the black pistol, aiming it directly at Ryota's dick. "You do know that these guns fire silver rounds with explosive tips and that they are laced with a thin layer of holy water, right?

Ryota visibly tensed and had his grip on the handle tighten even more. His cell phone rang, causing the veritable tension between them to momentarily subside. He sheathed back the sword with precision and style to booth. Tsukune pushed the hammer back and did the same.

The younger male dug on his pant pocket and pulled out a calling card complete with an address. "Tomorrow, 11:00, don't be late." and handed it to Tsukune.

He quickly dashed towards the open window and jumped down from the 3rd floor.

Tsukune eyed the card and crumpled it in his hand.

*Cut to black*

To be continued…

* * *

**A/N: I took the liberty of rewriting some parts of the story like how Ryota and Tsukune met, and how Tsukune got his guns, etc... because it didn't feel right with me and that this was originally the way I wanted it to happen. I won't completely rewrite the story, I'm just sort of 'rearranging' it ****(or re-edit it for the lack of a better word)** so that that the flow would be more consistent. Right now you could read some parts of chapter 6 written on it, so you can expect that some parts of the other chapters would mix in. So you need not read it (that's up to you) until I uploaded chapter six. And about chapter six... the reason why I deleted it was because it felt too sappy so I decided to rewrite it.**  
**


	2. Big Trouble In Little? Korea

The Blood Amulet: An artifact that held limitless potential. Crafted from the pits of hell by vengeful mages to bring forth punishment and pain to those who spurned them, those who casted them out: the humans and monsters.

First they used it to manipulate the humans who governed their world and drove them off the cliffs of sanity and it lead to petty wars among them to weaken them out. They did the same with another human being a few millennia later. He was too barbaric to be called a human, but too soft to be considered a monster; the world was at his fingertips, global domination was his goal, the man they called "Hitler" and now a man they call "Kim Jong-Un."

Vampires were the main offenders due to their elitist bastardry of a nature. They manipulated the head clans, sucked in their feeble minds and eventually it all ended in a blood feud between vampires spanning more than a millennium and it inadvertently expanded and dragged other races with it. Then the warring only stopped when the mysterious beings considered the strongest, the cruelest, called "Shinso's" emerged from the shadows.

There they took command of their brethren and it eventually lead to a peace treaty that went on till now. Too bad the humans didn't have such figures for they still continued in their pathetic little wars to this day which soon became an inherent trait.

Fast forward a few millennia later and to the present day. The Blood Amulet got split apart into two halves. Ever since my great-grandfather, Tohou Fuhai, discovered about the truth behind the amulet, he soon sought to retrieve it to lock it up and if necessary, destroy it, as he thought that if such an artifact should fall into the wrongs hands, it would stereotypically lead to the world's doom. Not just the human's, but mine as well.

And after years and years of backbreaking research and expeditions, we finally found it- in the wrong hands nonetheless- but what we consider wrong is up for debate since being in a mafia made it incredibly moot.

A few days ago, we received intel that our little douche bag neighbors: the "internationally feared" (my ass) Black Lotus Syndicate got their hands on the artifact and are either planning to sell it, use it, or just keep it as a paperweight. I hope it's the latter, because I can't afford such a bitch of an artifact set loose.

I've already sent the coordinates to Tsukune; he should be there soon, in Korea.

Hopefully he'll get it done before the ensuing bloodshed would fall into both of our hands…

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter Two: Blood Amulet

A few days ago…

A night in the shadiest parts of Busan, Korea was like this: Gangs and hoodlums would go out into the street to fulfill their territorial instincts and the police going in to stop them. They go to juvenile prison and the call it a night, just like that.

But what they didn't know was that there was far more serious shit that went on than just silly little gang warfare. Patrol cars and civilians idly drove by an abandoned factory complex. Who would've guessed that is was currently that hot pot for heroin manufacturing and trading? The police were either both too stupid and less suspicious or that they just didn't care.

The moon was up at full, providing illumination for even the darkest parts. And above the factory's roof top, a black silhouette silently darted across with blinding speed.

\\\

Everything was going was fine dandy. The drug dealers were dealing; the drug pushers were pushing and drug users were using.

They were all seated in their comfy chairs playing poker one night. And by 'they', I meant Korea's collection of its finest drug lords. All of them gathered around one table as they betted their chips. It was a bloody convention! They indulged in the wonderful delight of sampling each other's equally _fine _products and sharing their inner most secrets on how to pull off the perfect gig; they were like little schoolgirls going on a slumber party. If one would look at it sardonically.

And amongst them was Lee Yong-Kyu one of Black Lotus' top bosses, doing a routine check up on their base of operations in South Korea. But he suddenly got gate-crashed by his buddies and had no choice but to entertain the lot.

Outside of their room was a long corridor with a row of windows at the side. There were guards everywhere, on every corner.

The guards were going about their businesses when the lights suddenly went out and caused them to heighten their guard up. They all tensed up, looking around with a keen eye, hands slowly inching towards their guns.

A guard went for his radio "Someone go check it out."

And another guard hesitantly nodded. It seemed peculiar that only the rest of the mansion had its light out while the room with the drug lords in it were separated. So one of the guards entered their play room and alerted them of the current situation.

* * *

Going down a long staircase to check on the generator was easy, but doing it in the dark without a flashlight and the possible risk of a breach in security… was not; fortunately, for the mook ordered on doing such a task only had a lighter.

He shone his light on the generator and found that it was wrecked beyond repair.

The guard inside the room where the drug lords were at tapped on his radio "Anything?"

"_The generator's been blown to hell, I don't know why…"_

The nameless guard sighed in frustration "Any chances of fixing it?"

"_Not in the least…"_

"Well, then keep me posted."

* * *

It was quiet, too quiet. The guard sent in to check on the generator was already disturbed to his wits end by the eerie silence. Then, at an appropriate time, his lighter went out as he ascended up the stairs.

He flicked on it a couple of times and the fire went back on. He wished it hadn't. The guard got greeted with the sight of the numerous dead bodies of his comrade. His eyes went wide with horror and ran along the blood painted corridor and shouted through his radio "We got a breach! I repeat we got a breach!"

"_What? How many of them are they?!_"

"I don't know!"

The drug lords heard this through the radio of the guard inside their room and caused quite a stir.

The transmission got cut off by a scream and gunfire through the radio.

Dozens of guards converged on outside every possible entry of the VIPs' room and the rest looked for the assassin.

They held up a strong tactical position with keen eyes like a hawk and bottle-necked the main corridor. Their attention got diverted when the lights started flickering, even though they had no power.

"Keep your eyes sharp! Do not let anything through these doors!" The head guard relayed.

* * *

On the other side of the door, the drug lords and the single guard heard blood curdling screams and gunshots as they cautiously backed away, the fear evident on their faces. The guard built up the nerve to take a peak outside once the screaming and gunshots ceased. And once he did, he almost gagged and quickly barricaded the door with a chair, as if it would do any good.

He readied his submachine gun when suddenly…

CRASH!

The loud noise of glass breaking made him divert his gaze. Through the window of the room had the black assailant made his entrance, causing some shards of glass to fly towards some of the drug lords.

He rolled on the ground into a kneeling position with one knee, head down, eyes obscured. (Slow Motion) He twirled out two large pistols from their holsters and his arms glowed with blue circuit like markings that somehow connected with the guns' intricate scrollwork. Green laser sights activated as soon as the guns reached full glow and he cocked back the hammers.

He looked back up with fierce demonic red eyes and sprung up at the same time, aiming the guns on the frightened drug lords, guns akimbo, and slightly tilted the guns to the side, _Dante style._

With superhuman reflexes, he pulled on the triggers at ungodly speed and turned two semi-automatic pistols into full blown machine guns. Empty shell casings fell on the floor. Purple spikes of energy mowed them down one by one in an unforgiving barrage of seemingly infinite hellfire.

He released the triggers and twirled the guns towards his lips, blowing out the smoke from the barrels as the bloodied bodies dropped on the floor with loud thuds.

For all that flair and style, he unexpectedly left one alive: Lee Yong-Kyu. But he didn't know that.

The scared man quickly picked up the fallen guard's machine gun and bolted out of the room. Tsukune just let him be, since going after him would've been a waste of time. Twirling the guns back into their holster, he knelt down by the bloody bodies and searched them thoroughly.

"Not here."

Then he remembered the other guy that ran away, he stood up and bolted right out of the door.

\\\

He followed the man's scent into a room that looked like an intersection of sorts, staircases on the right and rear, a door that lead to another corridor on the left, and the entrance on the front.

Looking around, he felt the man's presence behind him. Lee Yong-Kyu opened fire with his SMG, loaded with 90-round drum magazine no less, and Tsukune hastily jumped over a metal desk and flipped it over.

He closed his eyes and pulled out his guns again, the bluish glow activating once more. That is until he heard the sound of metallic 'ting' sound. His eyes shot up to side and a grenade suddenly rolled into his line of sight. The appropriate words for the expression on his face would be…"Oh shit".

BOOM!

His body got thrown into a wall due to getting caught in the blast radius of the grenade and the guns got ripped away from his grip. He struggled to get up; it was like the air in his lungs got forced out of him. The impact on his back was just that strong. His vision was blurry, hearing muffled, and he had the world's most painful headache.

Large pieces of shrapnel buried onto his face and torso. A red puddle of blood slowly started pooling beneath him. Luckily for the young assassin, he had his healing properties with him as the sharp pieces of metal got spat back out when the wounds started to heal and mended the skin back together in an agonizing sting.

He pushed himself back to his feet, coughing up a few blood along the way.

Teeth gritted tightly with blood seeping out in between. Red, vampiric eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. His opponent froze in fear, as the bastard found himself at the receiving of the most ferocious and terrifying glare he had ever seen.

Tsukune darted towards his opponent with lightning speed.

The vampire snarled like a beast when he unleashed a devastating right hook. A mixture of teeth and blood flew in the air when it connected with the man's jaw, accompanied with the usual squishy sound. The blow sent him flying across the room and _through_ a wall. Nothing better than returning the favor…

Aono slightly staggered towards the body. And once he was there, he knelt down and ripped off a certain object strung around the badly beaten man's neck.

It was an ornate amulet. It had a large white gemstone in the middle, filled to the brim with blood. He stared at the trinket and felt something was wrong, like there was something missing.

_Oh yeah, I forgot that it could be split into two._

The sound of footsteps assaulted his ears. He closed his eyes and used his youki sensor. A dozen or so white blobs were heading towards him from the left and right, coming from the rear, up and down the stairs.

His eyes flung open. This was not good.

The young man slowly picked up his guns and holstered them back. He rolled up his sleeves and tightened his fingerless gloves.

If another person were to be in his shoes, they would've shat in their pants already. But no, he felt the exact opposite. Deep down, under that calm façade of his, was a raging beast waiting to be let out of its cage. The very thought of sadistic bloodshed sent shivers down his spine as he rose from his position.

BAM!

The doors flew off their hinges and in they went, surrounding him from all sides. They were all dressed in fine suits and were armed to the teeth with automatic rifles.

As soon as they went in, a thick screen of black smoke engulfed the area and clouded their vision. A pair of glowing red eyes pierced through the smoke like a demonic apparition and vanished in a split second, leaving some of the men unnerved and too paranoid that they blindly fired their rifles, as one would expect from men who trained under the "Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy."

Tsukune bolted through the smoke. Bodies dropped down on the ground the flies; blood splattered on the walls and flew in the air. Thankfully, the smoke censored out any sort of brutality once a couple of guards late for the party climbed up the staircase. Hell, they didn't even need to see to know that whatever that was happening was **not **good. More so when one of their comrades crawled out of the black cloud, pleading for help. A faint 'Get back here' was even heard within earshot, before the mook got promptly dragged back in.

*Beat*

A mook from the inside shouted, "Don't let him get away, you dumb fucks!" followed by loud gunfire and bullets piercing through the smoke which they barely managed to avoid.

SWOOSH!

A boot to the face was not a great way to go, but that was how they went. The black assailant dashed out of the smoke and caught the guards with a powered up drop kick sending them tumbling-no-flying down the stairs.

\\\

Why didn't he just jump out of a window and escape? Prior to the hit, he set up a painstaking amount of magical barriers around the building he was on, mostly around the windows and all the back entrances, except for the main entrance and the window he made a grand entrance with. No one could get in or out. If he were to deactivate even one barrier, then the rest would've just deactivated as well. So he was just forced to go in a metaphorical straight line.

The reason why he set up magical barriers? Well let's just say he didn't want them to miss the certain _fireworks _show.

He was already running on the third floor in a building with five. The factory complex wasn't abandoned at all till recently, so it was still in good shape.

Tsukune turned his earpiece on while he kept running "Fong, I retrieved the other half." he panted.

At first, only static came out but then the reception cleared up "_Good work, now get the hell out of there._"

"There he is, go get him!" a voice suddenly echoed out on the hallway. 5 _ayashi_ with hands transformed into scythes were rushing after him. Did they really think they could catch up with a vampire in terms of speed? He scoffed. It didn't seem so strange that ayashi would be working for humans, since that was the only way to get by.

BAM!

A large ogre like beast wielding two large hammers busted through the wall with ease, the dust and smoke settling in the foreground. Ugly bastard, Tsukune thought.

He pulled out his guns and charged them up, holding on to the triggers till the scrollwork reached a bright red glow.

He slid on floor and in-between its fat legs, a sudden flood of adrenaline coursing through his body, when the ogre threw one of the hammers at him unexpectedly; just a hair's inch away from getting his head smashed.

Using the guns' barrels as hooks to halt his slide, he quickly got back up and latched onto the creature's back.

The ogre shook around, trying its best to shake off the vampire, but he was still clinging on and would never waver. The ogre let out an exasperated growl and tried to resolve the problem with the only way it could think of: smash the puny little vampire.

But before it could achieve such a feat, Tsukune placed both barrel on top of its head, releasing his hold on the triggers.

BANG!

At the release of the explosive shot, red wet chunks flew in the air and the thick red substance sprayed out like a fountain, drenching the assassin in all of its lurid glory.

He jumped back the down as the headless body fell down on its knees, blood coating the floor underneath and arms flailing around in such a disturbing manner.

The ayashi that was after him a few moments ago were unfazed and still kept their charge straight at him. Even witnessing such a brutal act wouldn't get them to fall back? He smirked a wicked one.

He picked up one of the ogre's hammer and smashed it on the ogre's back with great strength, which inevitably sent it flying towards the fodder as a means of distraction.

With them being all crowded up and it was hard not to get caught in the ogre's large mass. Try as they might, their fates were sealed…in a bloody and gruesome way. They tumbled down with the large corpse on top of them. With a grunt, they angrily pushed off the bloody mess and kicked it off to the side.

The disgruntled fodder got back up to their feet, and collection of shocked and terrified gasps suddenly escaped from their mouths once their vision started clearing up.

A pair of demonic red eyes found their way into the core of the their souls; a black avenger bolting straight at them with unimaginably frightening speeds with a grin that would make Ryuk a run for his money, was the last thing they saw.

Blood splatters on the wall.

\\\

"These bastards don't give up, do they? And why are there so many of them?" he complained rather quietly, in contrast to his situation as he ran, narrowly avoiding a hail of gunfire. After spending five years of dodging, killing and whatnot, the guy had incredibly kept his cool even in the most dire of situations. Save for that one time with the cat...

He was already near the only other entry point that he _didn't _place a magical barrier on: the main entrance/exit.

Oh hail Nirvana, his mission was almost closing to an end!

He reached the doors and kicked them open. He spared a glance over at the fodders that were on his tail. There were dozens of them! Some of them were transformed into their monster forms and some were still in their human shells.

"Don't let him get away!"

He quickly placed his palm on the door frame. His arms suddenly lit up with the all too familiar circuit-like markings that screamed trouble. He remained in that position for a very short while before jumping out of the way, narrowly avoiding a bullet storm again.

They ran towards the exit in an attempt to chase after him, but were blocked off by the magical barrier he set up.

He dusted himself off the ground, looking at the fodders that were still struggling with the barrier.

"Sayonara…" he quietly said to himself before slowly walking off like those clichéd action movies. What if the hero got caught in the explosion? What it the hero got marred with shrapnel and impaled with a flying pipe? Yet, look at him disregarding all of those little trivial things because it looked badass.

They emptied their weapons at the barrier, but to no avail. They were stuck and their fates were all at the vampire's hands. It was finally over.

Well, not exactly yet…

His arms lit up again like a Christmas tree and he help up his hand. Back at the factory complex, all the magical barriers that he placed resonated with him and glowed with bright red light. And with a flick of his fingers…

BOOM!

The barriers started blowing up one after another, each of the explosions magnificently lighting up the entire area with the baptismal glow of erupting hellfire, taking down all the drugs and the mooks with it. It was impressive. It was grand. It was _epic. _From afar civilians watched the explosion, a star-burst of flaming debris searing against the night sky like fireworks.

The explosions started slowly dying down, and he felt very exhausted and lightheaded, taking in hard and deep breaths. He used up all of his youki in detonating the barriers. He made a mental note never to use that technique **ever **again.

His hand limply dug into his pocket and pulled out the amulet.

"One down, one more to go…"

*Cut to black*

_To be continued…_

* * *

**As you can see not much changed, except for the intro and some parts of the story. I will just basically chop up the chapters, put 'em in a bowl, mix 'em up and somewhat rehash them. So expect that much. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Mafia Vampires and Damn Reunions

Warning: OOC ahead! Also this is an A/U ending.

* * *

A few years ago…

The wind breezed over her long flowing hair as she stood on the Academy's rooftop. She dug into the pocket of her green blazer and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She placed the fag between her lips and lit it up.

She moved to a safer spot where any intruding eyes won't be able to set their sights on her (i.e. behind the rooftop's entrance).

The vampire took a drag of the cancer stick and rested her head on the wall.

"You know, model students shouldn't be smoking…especially on a school rooftop nonetheless. What if someone finds the will to report you?" a familiar voice came out of nowhere.

As much a she found the warning as annoying, the voice was right. She shouldn't be even going anywhere near those things. Gone were the days, where she would pester her outer self to keep their body in top condition. But she has no outer self. Not anymore anyways. She let herself go. For a woman of such strength to have such a weak will, it disappointed owner of said voice to no end.

She looked up and found her gaze set directly on the cold, yet at the same time, burning red eyes of her friend.

"T-Tsukune!"

He jumped down to face her, the fag still in between her lips. It embarrassed her that in all of the many other situations, he would find her in this one.

"You know, genetically superior vampire or not, you can still get cancer. I don't want my 'friend' getting sick now, do we?"

He crushed the fuming tip of the cigarette with his pointer and thumb. Wincing slightly at the pain of skin burning, he pulled his hand away and looked at his charred fingertips. After a while the skin slowly but surely healed itself back. He then snatched the burnt-out stick away from her lips "I'm disappointed with you, Moka-san."

"And who the hell are you to tell me what to do?"

He slammed his hand on the wall right beside her and inched his face closer to hers. Smelling the remnants of the smoke in her quick breaths, he smiled softly "The president of the Newspaper Club and your friend."

_You keep saying 'friend', you bastard. _She thought.

She shut her eyes tightly expecting a kiss or something like that.

"So, don't smoke." He whispered to her ear.

When her eyes opened, he disappeared from sight.

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter 3: Mafia Vampires and Damn Reunions

You know, what happens whenever I let that little bastard go ahead and do anything he wants?

This:

"_This week on CNN World News." _The announcer spoke.

"_An explosion occurred in an abandoned factory complex inside the busy district of Busan, Korea."__The newscast was intercepted with a helicopter view circling the charred remains of said building._ "_Investigations are now underway as to what was the cause of the explosion."__The scene cuts back to the reporter_ _"Eye witness reports that the building "glowed in red light" before exploding. The meaning behind the rather intriguing statement is also being investigated right now."_

_Fong-Fong turned off the LED before angrily slamming his fist onto the table, making a rather large dent on the wood._

You know I taught him those barriers techniques for securing transports and items. Not blowing stuff up. Hell, I don't even know how he modified them to blow stuff up! To think that little bastard countered that "they were trying to kill me!" Reasonable, yes, but did he really have to blow up an entire building! I swear one day he's going to be the end of me.

Anyways, see that woman over there? Yeah. The one with long black hair styled in with side bangs, a pale complexion, a curvaceous body that would make straight women go mad, lips that had a natural pout, a pretty face, and purple eyes that held an emptiness contrast to her appearance?

Her name is Rebecca Lee. She's a model, actor, singer and an all around Mary-Sue of Chinese descent. Everyone loves her. I mean, how can anyone not love her? Even I do to some extent. She's beautiful, an Idol, and she's still surprisingly single. Did I mention that she's turning 30 in three days? She's a Christmas cake and a decidedly delicious one at that.

That old, bald guy over there with a scar on his right eye is her father, Xi Luo-Hui. He puts up a front as a wealthy business man. But he's actually the human advisor for the Black Lotus.

And he knows where the second half of the blood amulet is.

He's our one and only lead. There seems to be an information black-out within their ranks. The only ones that do know are the three founders and…him along with recently deceased Lee Yong-Kyu.

Also, he'll be attending his little daughter's birthday bash.

That's why I sent my errand boy back to Japan. My great-grandfather gave him the direct orders himself: Try to obtain the second half as silent as possible and if everything's blown to hell…

… "Leave no witness un-silenced…"

The rest of the information will be relayed to him at the Tokyo branch currently situated at Roppongi.

I feel sorry for the poor girl. She doesn't deserve this. But, once she gets involved with the underground- only death will be her fate; provided that she doesn't turn into his shallow love interest, that's Moka's job.

Let's see if her status as a Mary-Sue could save her now…

\\\

Plain was a word. And then there's the Wong mafia's Tokyo branch. Yes, that how you should describe it: plain.

Tsukune looked up at the utterly nondescript building in front of him. It was several stories high, dull grey in color, windowless, and perfectly square. And at the building's windowless body read "Fujita Trading Co."

He shook his head and went up the steps.

The young man went in through a heavily barred metal door and into a bizarre room. Not that bizarre, but in a sense it was. The whole damn room was empty, except for the elevator at the far end, enormous metal blades of a tunnel air vent intake dominating the entire ceiling and a fat security guard, you know, the donut loving kind, reading a Shonen Jump manga. And besides him was a, you guessed it, box of donuts, placed neatly on top of the garbage bin's lid.

Tsukune walked across the room, the heels of his boots echoing. The guard looked up from his reading session.

"Help you?"

"Tsukune Aono." He introduced himself. The guard may not have seemed much, but the young man betted that there was something more to the old fat guy. An aura that only came from those who fought long wars: the aura of a veteran? All of that clouded in a smoke screen in the form of an unappealing slob. Then he saw a familiar rosary on the man's wrist, cross and all. No doubt a vampire.

"Elevator" The guard went back to reading his manga, taking a donut from its box along the way. "You may have to remove your coat and shirt for the scanning procedure." The guard instructed, never tearing his gaze from his JUMP.

The scanner popped out of the wall with Tsukune's back facing it. He unbuttoned his shirt and coat and lowered the garment just enough to reveal a tattoo of Chinese characters on his left shoulder blade. Once the scanner's laser passed over it, the ink art suddenly beamed with bright red light as a signal for verification accompanied with a loud 'beep'.

"You're clean." The guard said. And at the exact same time, the elevator doors opened, not in the least inviting.

The young man re-buttoned up his shirt and went inside.

"Welcome to the club."

"I've always been a member." he replied, smirking a sinister one as the elevator door closes.

\\\

"Eh? You want me to go to your party?" it suddenly hit her like a pile of bricks "Oh I forgot it was your birthday! But I do recall its still three days from now…"

"Kurumu, how could you forget your _senpai's_ own birthday!" the woman angrily scolded the busty succubus like a mother would to a naughty child.

"_Gomenasai,_Rebecca-san_!"_

Life in the fashion industry for Kurumu Kurono had been very generous. She's now living a life of luxury. Money, cars, and fame! And the one thing she sought for in her first days at Youkai Academy: an army of love struck slaves, albeit not the kind where they express their love for her in so many creepy ways and openly following her around like a bunch of sex-starved lunatics. Fortunately for her, it was much more reserved than the way she envisioned it, they were more like the diehard fans.

She met many important people, mainly artists and other models, and then she met Rebecca Lee, a fellow model. She took the aspiring young succubus under her wing and taught her everything she needed to know. With her cuteness and natural charm, it proved to be useful as Kurumu made her way up the ranks and became one of the most successful out there.

"Who knows? Maybe you can even find yourself a new man and get over that other one…" she flicked her fingers "What was his name again?"

She's been the target of many suitors, but she still had her eyes settled on the man she deemed as her 'Destined One'…

"Tsukune Aono" she said in a somber tone.

\\\

The elevator doors split open with the familiar 'ding!' and Tsukune stepped out of it's somewhat cozy confines, suddenly greeted with a familiar face from a while back. The same face that he wanted to smash it's teeth in. Still wearing the same black Chinese tunic, Ryota greeted him with a disgustingly polite smile. On his right hand was his Nodachi, and on the left was a long O-katana with a white _same _and black _ito's, _paired with a black scabbard (think Yamato).

The younger male then promptly handed him the fine Japanese steel. "Take this. It's an O-katana from Mr. Wong himself. He told me to give it to you. Plus it's required to have a sword while in the Tokyo branch's premises."

The older male looked around and noticed that indeed all the members that were scattered there had a katana or two in their grasps.

"Before we go into any form of briefing, I shall first inform you a little bit about this branch. Come." Ryota motioned Tsukune to follow him, hand gripping tight on the scabbard.

They were at the lobby area and the other members were at the side having small chats. The place was dimly lit, but it gave the feeling of cool vibes. The floors were styled with intricate details, and so were the walls and ceiling. And it all came down to an odd-yet-refreshing mix of Asian and Victorian design. His eyes wandered towards the ceiling where surveillance cameras were perched on and followed his every move. A small smirk crept up his lips and gave the cameras a wink.

"This branch houses a collection of Asia's most skilled killers and assassins so don't let their casual and friendly demeanor fool you. They could pretty much cut in you half without even noticing it." He relayed the information like a museum curator.

"We don't use guns around here. Since we practice the arts of Iaidojutsu and Battojutsu, we find it extremely dishonorable." This one was sort of a jab to Tsukune's preferred choice of weaponry "A real warrior would never use one, nor should he ever. Only coward's resort to those petty tactics."

"Oi oi, aren't you pushing it a little, kono yaro?" Tsukune spat back, his left hand inching towards his holster.

"Forgive me for running my mouth off. Now shall we continue?"

"…"

"Very well" Ryota cleared his throat "We are Wong Mafia's top enforcers, you could even say that we're the modern day Shinsengumi albeit in a way not accepted in the face of general public relations."

They ended up in front of yet another elevator. Ryota smashed the button for the 5th floor and they waited.

"Lastly, all the members in this branch are vampires of noble blood, each one of them a member of one the most distinguished clans in Asia and/or Europe." That should explain the bastard's recent hostility to our main man.

Tsukune raised an eyebrow "Even the old fat guy?" his expression nothing short of curiosity.

Ryota shot him a glance riddled with disbelief then of annoyance "Why yes, even the old fat guy. As a matter of fact, he was the first manager of this branch and the head of the Sugita Clan before he gave me the job. Not to mention that he's the father of my fiancé, so show a little respect."

Ding!

The doors opened and Ryota stepped in first, followed by Tsukune who stood towering over the younger man beside him.

As the doors closes, Ryota kept his gaze set straight while he spoke "You know? I really hate how you're getting all this special treatment from Wong-sama. Even now, the sword that he instructed me to give you was not of standard issuing; it came straight from him and him alone."

Silence followed.

"Hey, I have no gripe with you. If you got a problem, take it up to him." He coolly replied "Plus, I'm his blood brother and personal errand boy, if you have forgotten. I've done more for this family than you could've ever imagined."

After a minute that seemed to last longer than a year had passed, Ryota broke the silence.

"I shall hold the briefing till the day before the mission as Mr. Wong told me himself that you should enjoy yourself. Right now I'm just giving you a tour of the facilities for you to be familiarized with."

\\\

"Let's get going, Kurumu!" the woman shouted at the busty succubus through the car window. Said succubus was clad in a white blouse and a pair of black, form fitting jeans coupled with a pair of killer heels.

"Just wait a minute, Ruby!" she shouted back at the witch as she fumbled with her purse, hurriedly walking towards the car. Said witch wore black French beret on her head, a leather jacket over a white button up blouse, jeans and a pair knee-high boots.

Ruby Toujo, the sexy and masochistic witch who's had an affinity for cosplay. She hasn't changed that much. She still worked at the academy as the Chairman's secretary. But lately her position in the school seemed to be going up higher and higher, maybe because of her perseverance and hard work that the dark lord started seeing her as more than reliable, which she truly was even from the beginning. The pay was higher and the job went a lot easier.

She had a bright future ahead of her, that is, if she doesn't get stuck on working at the academy. She's got the looks, the intellect and the personality that any man would want for any woman. Unfortunately for them, she was like all her friends; still having the fixation on one man and one man only.

Kurumu got in the passenger's seat and slammed the door.

"Took you long enough, Cow Tits…" a voice whispered behind her.

"Oh shut up, Mizore!"

Along with the snow girl was Haiji Miyamoto, the lolicon karate club captain; Yukari Sendou, now at age 21 and loving it; she's also a genius witch, and Sun Otonashi, a cute girl taking the definition of 'silent but deadly' to a whole new level. She's also there senpai.

They were there for their small reunion, but…

"It seems nice that we're here together. But it's not the same without the others." The younger witch somberly spoke out.

"Tsukune and Moka disappeared and Kokoa's got work to do." Ruby replied "Well, guess they're all here with us in spirits."

Kurumu turned around and looked at the Tengu "Haiji-senpai, did you bring the flowers?"

He was awfully quiet, doing nothing but staring out the window and never even saying anything unless spoken to. It was worrying Sun. He looked distant. It was like his body was there, but his soul wasn't. Like a shell shocked veteran.

He didn't even divert his gaze "Yeah…" his voice was hoarse and lifeless.

Trying to lighten up the mood, Ruby happily spoke out "Okay everyone, let's go!" as she started up the car and drove into the streets.

\\\

After having a small conversation with the other members, he walked out of the building and decided to go towards his next objective in his little 'vacation'. He felt a little burdened by the very strict restrictions of the mission as relayed by the mafia lord. Which were:

"Don't talk to anyone"

"Stay low or you might cause some attention"

"If you see any of your friends way back into your academy times, avoid them; for it might cause reminiscing and you would undoubtedly have poor performance on the mission."

"If the target is in the vicinity, do not interact with them."

"If you find some information or anything that could make your job easier, go for it."

What the hell was that? As reasonably and logically correct as it may seem, given that Tsukune is an assassin for the mafia, he told the vampire he could enjoy himself. And what he told was far from 'enjoying'. He sighed. He didn't have any choice but to follow the direct orders.

He got on his motorcycle and went towards his destination, wanting to visit a senpai and an old friend.

* * *

He sped across the highway and inhaled the fresh scent of Tokyo. It's been five years since he left the motherland. But putting all the 'would be' enjoyment aside, he still had to remind himself that the only reason he _was_in Tokyo was because of the mission. Kind of a letdown, he thought.

Considering that he just left for five years only, it would reasonable to expect that not much has changed in Japan. As he drove down the streets, he couldn't help but look around in awe. It was still grand and it was still as beautiful as the day he left, a sight for sore eyes, he mused. A small shiver of excitement ran down his spine, probably because of the nostalgia.

\\\

"That was probably the most hypocritical thing that I have ever said…" Tsukune muttered to himself, taking a drag from his cancer stick.

Tsukune parked his motorcycle and got off, careful not to waste the bouquet of flowers that he bought. Since it was rather cold that day, Tsukune wore the same black double button coat he wore in the first chapter, a white long sleeve button up (first two buttons unbuttoned), black jeans, and leather shoes. There was also another reason why he wore the jacket: to conceal his weapons.

Tossing the fag on the ground, he put out the fume and lit up another one.

The cemetery wasn't that empty to say the least, there were people sitting around and having small chats. The cemetery ironically looked alive.

He kept walking through the maze of epitaphs; his eyes kept searching and searching for the name, until he finally arrived at the spot. Tsukune looked around and took a drag, the area was empty.

And there it was; the place where his senpai and friend was buried.

"Long time no see Gin-senpai…" he sarcastically said, sadness lacing his words. His gaze trailed over to the basket of steamed buns.

He placed the flowers down beside the basket and looked over at the epitaph. He stood there for a while and reminisced.

Gin was a great man, a little perverted but nonetheless a great man. He loved to take photographs and loved the newspaper club with all of his heart. But all of that was taken away from him by Fairy Tale along with his life. It was never his time, he still had a great life way ahead of him, and he had a loving girlfriend and friends to back him up.

He kept an unflinching gaze even as the strong wind went past him, his brown hair billowing wildly. He clenched his fist softly as he felt a single tear slide down his cheeks.

His last words to him before he died: _Take care of the newspaper club for me, eh Tsukune?_

It would be better if organizations like Fairy Tale never existed…

He wiped away the tear and sadly smiled "Sayonara, senpai…"

* * *

In another part of the cemetery Kurumu and the gang made their way towards Gin's resting area, and they all tried their hardest to keep a happy façade up.

When the area was in their line of vision, they saw a man sitting beside his grave.

"Hey, who's that?" Yukari asked as she pointed towards him.

Kurumu tried to get a better look at the man only for her eyes to go wide with shock. It couldn't be?

* * *

Tsukune opened up his coat to avoid some restriction on his movements and rested his arm that held a cig over his knees while taking a bite out of the steamed bun with the other one. It was still warm, probably from one of his senpai's former lovers. He leaned his head back and took in another drag.

"Remember that time when I first got drunk, you bastard?" he laughed. "We had a fight with some other patrons. We were beaten up pretty badly. But we kicked their asses." Another bite "You had to carry me back to the dorms and you lost your key, but I still had mine, so we both slept in my room, you on the floor and me next to the toilet. " another drag "I remember throwing up so much back then. The next day we were suspended for three days."

The memories were good. There was only one problem: they were just memories. He can reminisce all he want, but it doesn't change the fact that he can't relive them ever again. Memories like that are the one's that'll stay. Second time, third time- it doesn't matter. It will always be the first and the last.

He finished up the steam bun and stood up, the fag hanging between his fingers.

Another tear fell down as he gave Gin one last salute before turning around and walking back towards the place where he parked his motorcycle.

And then he suddenly remembered…

"Oh yeah, I forgot it was Saturday today. Well, time to get drunk…" unbeknownst to him that his former friends were only a few meters away from him.

* * *

As they got closer and closer they started to get a clearer view at the mystery man: brown hair, clad in black and leisurely smoking to his content.

He was so caught up in the little reminiscing that he didn't notice the people behind him. Nevertheless, he kept walking like he didn't give a damn.

Kurumu wanted to try something out.

"Tsukune!" she shouted. The others all looked at her flabbergasted.

The man briefly went to a halt, taking a peek over the shoulder and continued walking. Once they caught a glimpse of his face, there was no doubt that he was Tsukune Aono. After a seven year disappearance, could it be that they would finally have that blasted reunion? But why did he have a cigarette? Why was he ignoring them? Where was Moka? Where was the cherry boy with the stupid grin she loved so much? All those questions, so little time.

They ran up towards him, cheerful smiles on their faces, leaving Haiji behind. And for the first in a long time, she had urge to pounce him and bury his head between her large busts.

**"_If you see any of your friends way back into your academy times, avoid them; for it might cause reminiscing and you would undoubtedly have poor performance on the mission."_**

She did so, but the only thing she caught was the ground. Face first.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he coldly asked. _Damn, I broke protocol._

"Tsukune-san! ~" Then he saw Yukari and the rest.

"Yo, Tsukune~" Mizore greeted with a blush on her face.

He all looked at them with a frigid gaze. Ruby stared at him and spotted the fag between his lips. She hated smokers. "I didn't know you smoke, Tsukune-san?" she asked, trying to hide her disgust as much as possible.

Tsukune started walking away "I don't smoke." blatant lies.

_Guys, stop following me! I don't want any of you getting involved with my business! _He didn't have the will to tell them directly.

"Don't be like that Tsukune! We finally get to see each other after all these years, lighten up." Kurumu grabbed his arm and pulled herself closer.

Haiji watched them from afar and clenched his fists, giving them a hard glare.

"Why don't you join us Tsukune?" Mizore offered.

No reply.

"Then we'll just go with you!" Kurumu declared. Tsukune had it. He pried himself away from her grasp and pushed her aside.

"Ouch! Tsukune that hurt-"she was cut short when she found herself staring at the barrel of a black pistol.

CLICK!

"Don't you dare follow me." At that moment in the midst of this all the commotion, Sun noticed that his eyes were a lot like Haiji's: cold and dead.

"Tsukune-san! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Yukari raged.

Kurumu tensed up and was on the verge of tears. It made him feel a little guilty inside "T-Tsukune what are y-you d-doing?"

"I've already broken protocol just by talking to you guys, so don't give me anymore trouble."

Slowly he started backing away, pulling out the other pistol just in case, soaking in the guilt as he saw their fearful gazes.

"Sorry."

The mask cracked slightly in the small moment of weakness, showing them the tiniest glimpse of the Tsukune that they all knew and loved.

He turned his back on them and quickly walked back to his parked motorcycle.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as Yukari consoled her "Tsukune…"

*Cut to black*

To be continued...

* * *

**A/N: So, that was the rewritten chapter 3. That was originally my original idea, but went over to the more J-drama/romance approach. Hope you guys like it. I'll re-upload chapter 4-5 without making too much changes. And guys, I can upload all the original ones if you want. **

**And to Four Elements678. I'm so sorry, that I had not been able to work with you on your fic, don't wait for me! Like Gintoki said, "Just do it!".**


	4. Cliched Meetings

**Read the A/N first, please! You'll probably skip to the A/N by now, right? RIGHT? **

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter Four: Clichéd meetings

_2:24 am_

Somewhere, in a dark alleyway just a few blocks outside of the Salon Bar Yol in Roppongi, Tokyo…

_Am I really a vampire?_

Tsukune looked up and closed his eyes as the hard rain pelted against his body, completely soaking him up from head to toe. Even though he was bombarded with a million drops of water, he couldn't even feel any adverse effects. It wasn't painful, irritating, or weakening. It was _nothing_. Just like when he was still a human.

_I've been trying so hard to avoid water, yet here I am basking in its cold fury._

It was refreshing somehow. He'd forgotten what it felt to be drenched in water that didn't have the stale aroma of having herbs dumped in the water supply.

_What the hell am I?_

He felt the alcohol taking its toll on his body. At first it was just lightheadedness, but then it quickly overtook his senses. His hearing started to muffle and his body felt loose and tingly. The cold from rain did nothing as he felt his body grow warmer.

"Damn women, always needed to be rescued…" he angrily muttered as he staggered towards the cowering woman he'd just save from a gang of more than four thugs. Who were lying down on the wet pavement, bloodily beaten almost half to death, a beating mostly likely born out from his male chivalry and alcohol induced adventure.

It reminded him of the time he saved Moka from the Yakuza. He smiled softly at the memory, his expression shifting from stern to gentle as he offered his hand to the woman "Are you alright?"

Her heart fluttered as he gave her the ever-famous lady killer (which he surely wasn't) smile he wore when he was back in high school, a smile which had all the warmth and concern any woman would fall for. He even unintentionally flashed his dazzling vampiric red eyes at the same time.

She reached up to take the offer when she saw one of the thugs slowly got up, knife in hand. The fairy tale like rescue ended and all the apprehension she felt that disappeared came rushing back in. It was too late when she shouted "LOOK OUT!"

Tsukune eyes went wide as he sprung around.

SPLAT!

*Cut to black*

_A few hours earlier…_

The past events haven't been nice to Tsukune Aono. He suffered a great loss and an equally great personality shift. From an idealistic and naïve, young freshman to a depressed and emotionally battered young man whose only solution to handle his problems was to drink them away, something that was very uncharacteristic of him. He was offered by Fong to join the mafia with the very clear intention to help him get over the past. He did join with that sole purpose in mind, but it clearly didn't have the desired effect it had on him. Sure the missions and the sermons from Fong kept his mind busy, but it never changed the fact that he was still holding on and trying his hardest to let go.

"Good afternoon sir, what're you having?" the bartender asked him as kept polishing one of the wine glasses.

He sat on one of the stools by the bar and let out a sigh "Whiskey. Straight... and keep em' coming…"

\\\

Tsukune never considered himself to be a handsome individual. He grew his longer much like Hokuto's, he had pale skin, a well toned body, a tall figure around 5'11, and- not to mention- a pretty face. But he didn't really care about appearances.

The one thing that changed though was his eyes. What was once gentle and soft now turned into something piercingly cold and distant. But even with changes like those, the one thing that will never change was his natural charm and aura that pulled people to him despite his annoyance. Maybe it was just selective obliviousness, because he didn't even notice all the lustful gazes of the female patrons of the bar. That or he just didn't care.

* * *

Instead of completing his main objective of getting wasted every Saturday, he spent the last few hours rejecting 'offers' from the female customers. He tried blowing them off in the nicest ways that he can, but they just kept coming and annoying him to no end. Just then, he blew off another woman before she could've even said anything. He took his eleventh swig of whiskey and grunted as he slammed the shot glass down.

The bartender looked at him with a goofy grin and suddenly spoke out "Number five…"

"What?"

"That was the fifth woman you blew off…" he filled up the shot glass again "You know buddy? Other guys would've been jumping in joy if they were in your shoes. Most of them were pretty hot, you know?"

The vampire smiled and picked up the shot glass "Well…" Tsukune gulped down "I'm not like 'other' guys." And he meant it.

He looked around "Why are there so many women today?"

"I really don't know."

* * *

"Kana, would you look at that guy?" Rebecca pointed out to her friend taking a sip of wine. She had long brown hair and brown eyes, having some sort of child-like attributes on her face, but definitely not on her body; more of a "semi-loli". Hard to believe she was twenty-five.

She looked around confused "Where?"

"There, the guy with the white shirt!" she was pointing a Tsukune while he was talking with the bartender.

It was two days before the model's birthday and she decided to go on a little bar hopping adventure with her friends, minus Kurumu, for she had declined and went elsewhere for a reunion with her old friends.

Her friend diverted her gaze "Oh that guy, what about him?"

"I've been watching him for the past hour." She said with a trance like tone.

Kana stared at her, it was creeping her out "And...?"

"He's been blowing off every woman that makes a move on him. I don't get it…" she looked on with fascination etched across her face "And he's going on five now!"

"You were counting the entire time?"

She had stereotypical views on men. She thought they were perverted, thinking about nothing but sex. Conceited, arrogant, violent and untrustworthy, just like her father- who happened to be a stereotypical mafia boss. As offensive as it may sound, her views were not far from the truth. But there are as much honest and decent men as there are the bad. One would pity her for basing her views on people like her father rather than opening her eyes to the world.

"Maybe he's gay?"

"No…" she looked back at Kana "There's something different about him and I can't put my finger on it…"

"Maybe you like him?" another one of her friends asked

"No, I don't." she flatly denied

"Wanna go talk to him?"

"I don't know…" she looked over at them with confusion "Should I?" Her friends nodded. She was reluctant at first but decided to go for it.

She stood up and was about to approach him when saw Tsukune pulling out his wallet and paying the bill. He got up and said thanks to the bartender for the drinks and the small talk and left the bar.

She sighed "Well, guess that was it."

Her friends looked at her with disbelief and one of them shouted out "What're you doing? Go after him!"

She backed up a little "You guys can't be serious. There is no way that I-"

"You are turning thirty and you're still single. You need a man. At least get his number!" Kana told her frigidly.

"But I…" this was madness! No it was her friends pushing her on about her nonexistent love life.

"No! Don't say anything, just go after him."

She looked at them with an incredulous expression on her face. Sighing, her shoulders slumped down in defeat "Nah…" she grabbed her purse "I think I'll just go home…" and started walking away.

"Jeez! Rebacca don't be like that!"

She didn't even bother to look back and she just waved her hand.

\\\

Since he went drinking, Ryota advised him not to take the motorcycle. So, he had to walk his way back apartment. He thought it would be worth it, maybe before he got home he would be sober enough. He wasn't that drunk but he was on his way there. He could feel it. Any decent person would laugh at the idea of letting a drunken man go home, trusting their gut that they would make it back unscathed.

"Goddamnit, Sakurai…" What could go wrong? He was half-drunk and he was getting tired and sleepy. He regretted going out today. He shouldn't even be going out on bars and getting drunk. What if one time he spilled secret information? What then? Damn logic…

"Well *sigh* at least it ain't rainin'…"

Just then, thunder erupted up at the clouds, causing him to jump. After recovering from the petty shock, he looked up and grinned sarcastically "What. Could. Go. Wrong?"

While he absentmindedly gazed up at the sky that threatened to poor down on his lonely soul in a drunken haze- another person was dealing with her own misfortunes.

"Oh come on! Pick up!"

She waited outside the bar for her driver who mysteriously disappeared. Sighing in frustration, she shoved the phone back in her purse "The next time I see that guy… he's fired!"

"The apartment's not far from here." She rubbed her forehead to condense her irritation "Guess I'll just walk then."

So she walked, never knowing that fate would've made it so their two paths would cross. Literally.

* * *

It started with a single drop.

And then another…then another… and then another…

"OH! GREAT!" he shouted with crystal clear exasperation.

Heavy rain dropped down from the sky like a hail of bullets. Tsukune quickly took cover underneath a store canopy. He sat down on his drunken ass on the floor and leaned on the garage door, having no choice but to wait out the rain.

* * *

"Damn…" she silently muttered as she looked up, droplets of rain splashing on her face.

She passed by a few men who were sheltering themselves from the rain and kept her gaze down. She didn't notice their lust filled gazes directed at her. They looked at each other and silently came into an agreement. They smiled wickedly as they ran after her like a bunch depraved sexual predators, which they really were.

She and her clothes were soaked. It was cold and unforgiving. She hugged her purse closely to her chest and walked a little bit faster when she felt that she was being followed. She lived in that area for a long time and she knew the shortcuts like the back of her hand. The soaked model took a right down at an alley, hoping to get home as quickly as possible. Said alley happened to be in front of the store Tsukune was taking a break at, like a homeless man.

He narrowed his eyes when he saw the thugs –giggling in excitement- going after the woman who just went in the alley. How genre blind could the woman be? He thought. He hastily pushed himself up and cracked his knuckles, ready to deliver a savage beating if necessary. But then he remembered one thing- it was still raining. Dammnit! Every second that he wasted on contemplating, the woman was getting closer to getting raped by a bunch of horny madmen!

Then he heard shouting. "Screw it!" he ran out of the blessed protection of the store canopy and bolted through the rain. He expected to be brought down on his knees, due to the water. But he felt nothing. It shocked and confused him at the same time. But he didn't have time for that; he needed to save that genre blinded woman first.

"Come 'ere!"

She let a hard grunt when one of the thugs grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her on the wall, facing him; his friends grinning darkly behind him. She tried fighting him off, only to get a slap in the face. The model glared at them frigidly as blood trickled down her chin.

"No way out now eh? Oujou-chan…" he said lustfully as his hands ripped open her button up blouse, exposing a little bit of flesh.

"Get your filthy-fucking hands off me!"

She slammed her purse into her attacker's face and made a run for it while he was caught off guard. It was useless though. They quickly circled her and grabbed her. No matter how much she shouted, she thought no one would save her. It was a terrifying.

The leader got back up and slowly made his way to her as she struggled and squirmed at the hands of the other thugs. He held a sickly smile as he grabbed her face and forced her into a kiss.

Her widened when felt him slide in his disgusting tongue. She almost gagged. The model bit down on the tongue hard enough and didn't let go. The thug screamed. He pushed himself off the model.

"You cock sucking whore!" the thug shouted as he clutched his bleeding mouth. Rebecca smirked.

He wiped off the cheeky smirk with a fist to her delicate face. The thugs all laughed at the sadistic torture they were putting the poor woman through.

CRACK!

She heard the disgusting wet crack and the thug's body fell down dead on the floor.

Behind the fallen man was Tsukune with an emotionless expression on his face, red eyes gleaming through the dark alley. Expressionless as his face may be, they all felt the cold fury emanating from the man standing before them.

They quickly let the frightened woman go and charged directly at him.

As Rebecca cowered and watched in a corner, she couldn't help but feel amazed at the man's fluid dexterity. It was like a deadly dance, he weaved across them like they were nothing.

(In slow motion) He evaded an incoming fist and countered with a spinning-heel kick, snapping the thug's neck and sending him down on the ground. Two down.

The two thugs came at him the same time with knives and he ducked accordingly, swiftly moving behind them and smashing their heads together with great strength. Four down.

One left and he was scared shitless. In an act of idiotic bravery, he charged the angry 'vampire' with blind fury. Screaming out like a warrior, only to be knocked down with a powered-up right hook. Talk about overkill.

He approached the cowering woman and held out his hand. One of the thugs slowly got back up knife in hand.

"Look out!"

Tsukune eyes went wide as he sprung around and quickly caught the knife with his right hand, the blade piercing straight into it and coming out the other side. If he wasn't high on alcohol, he never would've let that happen. He glared grimly at the thug, causing a surge of fear course the poor bastard's body.

He struck his left palm at the thug's chest and sent him flying.

The vampire looked at knife sticking out of his knife and quickly yanked it off. He grunted and threw it to the side.

He helped the woman back up and took off his coat and wrapped it around her, leaving him in his white button up.

"Lady, my advice to you is-"he was cut off when a grateful Rebecca hugged him tightly and cried into his chest "…Don't go alone in dark alleys…" he closed his eyes and let the woman cry out her relief. The young man could feel her grip tighten on his body, her slender fingers digging at his back. He almost forgot that strange feeling of warmth.

She didn't know the man, but she would be forever grateful.

Being the gentleman that he was, Tsukune walked her down all the way to her apartment. She clung to him like a scared little girl, her arms wrapped around his left arm. When they got there, Tsukune gingerly pried himself off her grasp.

"We're here…" she told him, her voice a little strain from all the shouting. Tsukune looked over at her and he could still see that she was visibly shaken at what happened. In fact, anyone to go through a near-rape experience wouldn't be able to recover in such a short amount of time.

"Well, you better get some rest." He patted her on the head like a pet and walked away as if nothing happened.

"Wait, what about your coat?"

"Keep it."

She noticed the trail of blood dripping down from his glove laden hand and worried. "Hey, are you alright?" It was rhetorical. After getting a knife stabbed through his hand, of course he wasn't alright. "You should get that hand fixed up!"

"I'm fine." He blatantly lied.

_His name! Ask him his name you idiot!_

"Umm…can I at least know your name?!"

He looked back and she could see the faintest of smiles pasted on his lips.

"Tsukune…"

\\\

Once he got into his room, he shrugged off his soaked button up and headed towards the bathroom. He studied his reflection on the mirror. Bloodshot eyes, a feint stubble, messy hair and dark rings under his eyes. He looked like a wreck. He turned on the faucet and splashed some water on his face, placing his hands on both sides of the sink.

His eyes widened when he saw the familiar black markings on his neck slowly spreading out.

A sharp stinging pain shot up from his wrist up to his whole arm, effectively snapping him out of his thoughts. He stood up straight and looked at the seal given to him by Fuhai. It acted like the holy lock, but in place of the lock was a silver cross with a crystal clear gem in the middle- half filled with blood.

He found the source of the problem: the same black vein like markings spread out across his arm like an infection before ever so slowly receding back to the seal followed by bright, jagged spikes of electricity sparking off his forearms only for it suddenly vanish as if nothing happened.

_What am I, really?_

His hand shook nervously as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

*Cut to black*

_To be continued…_

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for skipping to this section (I thought so).**

**If you have read this chapter a long time ago and planning on reading it again, then don't. The only changes I've made were Tsukune's clothes, some minor dialogue and the stinger below from chapter 6. But you could if you want to. **

**Also disclaimer: I don't own the character in the stinger... I guess you're thinking "What character?" You'll find out soon enough ;)**

* * *

**Black Lotus: Base of Operations #3 **

**Location: Underneath the Snow Village**

It was a rather large ice cave. It was grand. It was obviously cold. And it had all the clichéd equipment used for the equally clichéd 'world domination' trope like in the Bond movies, which covered: Screens, guards, surveillance cameras, a wall of weapons, Interrogation room (torture room) and many other equipment too complex to describe. But for some of its grand spectacle, it was quiet, empty to say the least. A kimono-clad purple haired woman just stood there, hands clasped behind the back and gazing at the place "where Yuki-Onna are born": the Great Frost Tree. It held together the barriers that protected the Snow Fairies' homeland from invaders. The woman heard the clicking of heels on the ice and took a side glance.

-_Megalomaniac- Incubus-_

"What happened back there at Busan?" her voice echoed out.

Another woman stepped in. Clad in a black skin tight leather suit and thigh high boots with dangerously sharp stiletto heels, it looked like she came straight out of a Matrix movie-, minus the long coat and shades or, better yet: a BDSM fantasy. She had long raven hair, ivory skin and sensual curves further accentuated by the skin tight leather. A leather eye patch with a Nazi swastika engraved on it covered her left eye and the exposed one: red, with black slits as pupils that obviously screamed 'vampire.'

"Carelessness and over-confidence…" She paused for a moment "Lee Yong-Kyu's dead. They have the other half of the amulet."

"Do you know who pulled off the hit?"

The vampiress recalled the memory of the events that occurred in Busan, Korea. She stood on top off a building as she watched the factory blow up into smithereens. And before that, she spotted the person responsible.

She smiled "Wong, or to be exact, Aono Tsukune."

"I've heard that name before... Anyways, you know what to do." The purple haired woman turned around to face the assassin. Strapped on her neck was the familiar little trinket that everyone seemed to be after. "Search and destroy."

The assassin smiled sinisterly "Oh me…" she turned around, hell-bent on getting the job done "Oh my…" and disappeared into a puff of black smoke.

"Go get 'em…" she went to gazing back at the Frost Tree "Kuro No Akuma…"

*Cut to black*


	5. Blackbird

**Again, read the A/N first, please!**

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter 5: Blackbird

She took in deep breaths and closed her eyes, trying her best to stay calm. Her body slightly stiffened and her fingers trembled nervously as she gripped the fabric of her gown. She stood in the darkness, the musicians behind her calmly and professionally going through the motions and going into their usual routines, turning pages of their sheet music and checking their instruments. This was it- her first performance! Actually, her first and last performance; it was just a onetime gig, wanting to dedicate the song to a special _someone_ that she left hanging.

The host stood before the large audience as he basked in the burning glory of the spotlights. Dressed in the usual coat and tie, he looked sophisticated as hell even with such a simple combination of clothing. He held a confident smirk as he adjusted his tie and held the microphone closer to his lips.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, the next performance you might enjoy. The next singer is a first timer. A rookie she may be, her beautiful looks and equally beautiful voice will certainly win you over." _He placed the microphone on the stand_ "Coming up next with the song 'Bye, Bye, Blackbird' the Peggy Lee version, again ladies and gentlemen, Moka Akashiya."_

He walked out of the way and the spotlight was hers for the taking. The audience applauded formally; not too loud, not too quiet- an expected reaction for a first timer. But the one thing that earned her instant fans was her beauty. Clad in a strapless white gown, her long platinum hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Crimson eyes that held that familiar confidence, but not like the haughty and arrogant ones she had back then. This time however, gave a sense of longing and sadness- a sort of vulnerability that people found alluring.

She placed her hands on the microphone and took in a quick breath.

* * *

First day on the job was _not _going well. He was surrounded from all sides by fifty or-so men. And they weren't just ordinary men. They were **S-class** **vampires**! Ruthless, bloodthirsty and not to mention- well trained. Hell, they even wore black cloaks to like an army of grim reapers. They stared daggers at him, cold and hard. Tsukune looked around and cracked his glove covered knuckles. No way out. Guess he had to make one.

Dressed in his black mafia uniform, he rolled up his sleeves and tightened his gloves. His arms lit up like a Christmas tree and glowed with circuit-like markings. He was going to do it the old fashioned way: fist to face.

(In slow motion) The vampires jumped at him all at once and he readied his stance.

* * *

Soft music played in the background, perfectly setting up the cool and jazzy atmosphere. She slowly closed her eyes and dropped a sad smile.

_Pack up all my cares and woe__  
__Here I go__  
__Singin' low__  
__Bye, Bye blackbird_

Tsukune unleashed a brutal flurry of punches on one vampire's torso, completely shattering his ribs and internal organs. Fast, vicious and unrelenting, he pounded away until his fists were soaked with the vampire's blood. He finished him off with a powered up right hook and decked him hard on the ground.

_No one here can love or understand me… _

He swung his fists with abandon while screaming out bloody murder as the vampires kept swarming him in multiple waves.

A left hook, one got floored. A straight and another one's skull went 'pop'. A vampire grabbed him from behind while another one smashed his fists into his face and abdomen. As he struggled to get free, he straightened his body and kicked the offending bastard at the balls and elbowed the other one that had him in a hold. He spun on his heels and rammed his fist straight through the vampire's chest. He was going on a bloody rampage! A nice little homage to the massacre he committed when he was a freshman. He pulled his fist out the mook's chest and activated his Muei-Tou, bolting through a group and mowing them down with quick and lethal slashes.

_Awhile ago__  
__When I was young__  
__I heard a song__  
__And heard it sung_

The audiences' bodies swayed automatically at the sound of her charming voice. Smiles were painted on their faces as they watched her performance and felt the sincerity in her voice. It was like telling a sad story. And the way she delivered it: sweet, broken, and innocent. Words that weren't commonly associated with a strong vampiress like her.

_I don't know why__  
__It makes me sad__  
__A happy song__  
__Should make me glad_

Meanwhile, Tsukune caught an incoming foot directed at his face. He lifted the vampire up by the foot and spun him around like a ragdoll and used his body as a club to smash into everything that came close. He used the momentum from his spinning and launched the poor fellow straight into a group into of vampires charging at him.

The soft music played in the background once again. All the while she was singing, only one person was on her mind: Tsukune. They had everything. And they lost it all when she got scared and ran away. Was he doing alright? Does he think about her every single day like she did? Had he already found someone else? She hoped the last one didn't happen. She cursed herself everyday for that stupid decision. If only she could turn back time. A single tear slid down her cheek. She wanted him back, but there were so many duties and responsibilities that held her back.

_Make my bed __  
__Light my light__  
__I'll arrive, late tonight__  
__Blackbird, bye, bye_

Only a few of them were left standing, nine to be exact. They got in pretty good blows. His body was bruised and he was bleeding out. His skin marred with large bloody gashes. His vision was getting blurry and he struggled to get his balance. He hated it. After fighting more than a dozen vampires, who wouldn't? Just one more blow and it'll all be over for him. And he was already down on one knee!

Time slowed down as they charged at him, ready to deliver the killing blow. But at the same time, he stood up, readied his fist and made his arm glow once again, concentrating enough demonic power to bathe everything in blue light. This was it. One of the most effective crowd control techniques that he ever learned: Bakuuryujin!

He smashed his fist on the ground, releasing a devastating amount of explosive yoki that shook the ground with massive shockwaves and a blast radius large enough to raze everything within the vicinity. Concrete and pieces of rubble flew in the air like bullets as the rippling shockwaves sent the vampires flying.

* * *

The audience went crazy at her performance. As if that wasn't enough, they all gave her a standing ovation. She wiped away the tear and smiled gratefully at the audience, their applause became a boost to her pride and confidence. But somehow, it also felt empty. It was nothing but wish fulfillment, but she'd imagine him watching her while he was hidden among the crowd, smiling proudly at her. Her cheerful turned into a somber one when she realized how futile it was in indulging herself in such reverie.

* * *

Tsukune clutched his bleeding arm as he staggered out of the large crater that he made. And once he was out, he looked around the remnants of the battlefield that he was in: bodies of the vampires he fought lay scattered on the floor; bloody, decapitated, and mutilated.

He took a few steps before falling down flat on the ground. The injuries he received were nothing to be scoffed at. Broken ribs, a broken wrist, stab wounds, a bleeding arm caused by using Bakuuryujin and internal damage. His right eye was closed shut and it bled out. Blood dripped down his chin as he dropped a soft smile. As he lay there on the ground in a pool of his own blood, in near death, he wished that he could see his lover one last time before everything slowly went to black.

_Blackbird, bye, bye__…_

*Fade to black*

_To be continued…_

* * *

**A/N: Like in chapter 4, I just removed the briefing scene between Ryota and Tsukune and moved it to chapter 6. Also, be prepared for a special surprise in the next chapter ;)**

**Again, like in the 4th chapter, you can skip this if you want.**

* * *

Present time…

_Somewhere, deep down in a massive underground research facility in an undisclosed are of Japan…_

Alucard slept peacefully, _its _body shackled with enormous steel chains made with the hardest metals known to man and countless of other barrier seals to prevent it from ever awakening again. But the one seal that stood out from the rest was a small silver cross that lay inserted in a small metallic pedestal in front of the slumbering beast.

Numerous guards stood by the area day and night, unflinching and unwavering. As if they would do any good if the beast were to awaken.

A man in black stood there, rooted to his position. He watched it with a smile filled with awe, like someone who'd seen their god. He traced his finger on the red middle gem as the glow slowly dimmed down.

Another man suddenly appeared beside him. He was bald and had a scar on his right cheek "How long till it needs replacing?"

"Three more days, give or take a day or two…"

The rosary on the pedestal wasn't the original one that Gyokuro Shuzen used to control Alucard, but rather a mock up of the first one that belonged to Moka Akashiya. They didn't find it. They didn't know where it was. Every five years the mock-up rosaries would deactivate and had to be replaced with a new one. In their case, three days.

"How is the Shinso blood propagation and how are the test subjects reacting to them?"

He looked up at the older man "Very good actually, much better than we anticipated. The virus has been accepted by the host cells without many side effects, but it still in the late stages of development. " he kept his gaze directed at the abomination.

"I see. Well I better get going."

"Where are you going…Xi Lou-Hui?" he looked at the older man with mock suspicion.

"Back to Tokyo, it's my daughter's birthday tomorrow. I got to be there. And I also have to discuss about the plans for the operation Frost Core's launch with Yamashita and the rest of the leaders."

He smiled "Good luck, tell her I said happy birthday."

"I will, _Xie Xie Ni." _He turned around and started walking away, accompanied with an escort.

"I just hope that project 'Hell Storm' will be a success…" he looked back at the older man.

He stopped mid-stride and took a glance over the shoulder "Don't worry. It will be…soon…" and he continued walking.

He made a manic smile and chuckled, looking back one last time at the monster's sleeping form and the rest of the personnel present.

"Gentlemen, let's welcome chaos!"

*Cut to black*


	6. Briefing

**Disclaimer at the A/N. You'll see why :) Read the chapter first rather than going to the A/N section to save some suspense.**

* * *

Over a few centuries ago, almost after The Wong mafia's creation was the Black Lotus Syndicate's. Ever since then, they were our sworn enemies. The only time that we under a cease-fire was when Fairy Tale struck a few years ago, as they deemed that immense damage will be inflicted upon them with foes attacking at once- same goes for the Wong mafia.

There were three founders: one of Yuki-onna descent, a vampire, and a mage; all of them at least a few centuries old. The two triads shared a lot of similarities, both were quite powerful, both were serving their country's respective leaders; Korea for them and China for us, and pretty much the same in overall manpower. The only thing they don't have is the most powerful Dark Arts user of all time and famed Dark Lord: Tohou Fuhai, my great-grandfather.

Oh and one more thing, unlike us, we have a conscience. We're patron saints compared to those ingrates. That's what makes the Wong mafia better in every way, because we're the lesser of two evils.

Recently, they've been going active in manner that I, as the current head, have never seen before. Intel indicates a lot more of projects, expeditions, and trading. Could they be planning something? Well of course they are… they're a damn syndicate, they're _always_ planning something.

Well if they're planning anything malicious that would put the human and yokai world in jeopardy, I'll be waiting.

With direct orders:

"Search and destroy…"

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter six: Briefing

RIIIINNNNGGGGG!

The sunlight peeked across the blinds and hit him squarely in the face, causing him to flinch. It was annoying. Coupled with how the equally loud and annoying ring of the alarm clock assaulted his ears. It was like his skull was being crushed under immense pressure. His hearing was way too sensitive, and he felt that the slightest bit of movement would be the end of him. To sum it all up in a word: hangover.

"Would you shut the **fuck **up?!" he complained rather pissed off more than usual, maybe because of the hangover (no shit?)? He thought he was sober a few hours ago.

It wouldn't stop ringing…

SMASH!

His left hand unintentionally smashed the alarm clock into little bits and pieces. "What the hell?!" he jumped out from the bed, flabbergasted beyond belief. He felt that he just lightly tapped it. Why did it break like that? Maybe he just needs to control his own strength, he thought. Nevertheless, it was quite satisfying in an odd way to release anger on an inanimate object, thinking that it would feel pain and make it suffer. It was like an angry gamer playing Resident Evil 6 on a Windows 98.

He clutched his head in pain. Fucking headache! The vampire staggered towards the bathroom to try and get a little splash of the cool and refreshing water. Once he was there, he opened the faucet, but not before noticing his right hand. He removed the bandages and to his shock and utter confusion, it still wasn't fully healed. Healing? Yes. Healed? No.

Just then as soon as the bandages were gone, the wound started closing, slowly mending the flesh back together. It was disturbing to say the least. As if it was waiting for it to be removed.

He winced at the slight sting "What the hell?"

The same jagged spikes of electricity from earlier reappeared again, only this time it was more pronounced and little less lively than before. The blood in the center of the rosary was gone and was back to its crystal gem state. It bothered him to no end.

He felt his teeth with his tongue and quickly checked them on the mirror. It was his fangs- they were longer than before. His dark brown hair bled into a lighter shade and his eyes were in a deeper shade of crimson. He spotted the red vein markings running down his cheeks to his neck. The vampire traced the markings with his finger and came to a realization. He needed to take off his shirt.

And just like that- he removed the piece of clothing and stared at the sight before him. Like a tattoo etched across his entire upper body were the Ghoul markings that he once had when he overused his power. He gripped the sides of the sink hard enough for it break and bit his lower lip causing blood to draw. This can't be! Wasn't he cured? Wasn't he a _vampire_? One way to find out was to get answers from the two dark lords. Oh, and he _will _get his answers. Soon enough.

\\\

Fortunately for him, the markings dissipated before he went into briefing with Ryota; something that he was very thankful for. He didn't want someone to fuss over him.

"You're late." Ryota said in a 'as matter of fact-ly' tone, hands placed on the long table while the flat screen behind him magically turned on as if he was telepathically linked to it.

Tsukune took his seat and propped his legs up on the table, muttering an apology. The young man was dressed in his uniform, only difference was that he had his jacket off and instead wore a simple form fitting grey shirt.

"I shall not tolerate such delays again."

Ryota magically pulled out a briefcase from under a table and slid it to Tsukune.

The pseudo-vampire set down his legs and stood up straight "What's this?"

"Go on, open it."

And he did, not expecting what he'd see. Inside were black clothes, mainly a black militaristic coat with double buttons reminiscing of the Fairy Tale uniform he wore back then and a white belt. Only difference was that the Fairy Tale logo was gone, the buttons were silver; not gold, it was a long coat; almost down to the back of his shins judging from the way it was folded, and the weird string like cloth that connected to the left shoulder…pads? were gone.

"Again, what's this?"

"You're new uniform. Welcome to the Shinsengumi."

"This brings back so many damn memories that I don't want."

"Enough dawdling." He cracked his neck to the sides "Let's get this started, shall we?"

"By all means."

"As you may already know- the target's name is Xi Luo-Hui, a man of Chinese descent and one currently the only human advisor for Black Lotus." He cleared his throat and placed his hands on the table "And he has information on the whereabouts of the second half of the Blood Amulet. Tomorrow night, his daughter's birthday celebration will be celebrated at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo. Important guests will be attending and her father will also attend along with other important figures in the business. However, his current whereabouts are unknown at the moment."

"So, how do we go in?"

"I'll be your partner in the mission. I'll pose as a waiter, while you will enter as one of the VIP's. I applied for the job a week prior. And don't fret; everything is already taken care of."

A pretty boy like Ryota as a petty waiter? The thought made Tsukune laugh.

"More than a hundred guests will be attending. I'm sure someone like you will be able to fit in with the crowd." He snickered "I'll be the waiter, you be the VIP, we go in and when everything is in place- we cut the power, lights out, we knock him out, nab him and take him back to HQ. Once he's knocked out, head straight for the roof and wait for me. I'll handle the rest. We'll get the information straight from the horse's mouth. Simple as that."

Tsukune looked at him placidly.

"Any questions? Unless you have a better idea?"

The older man shrugged "None at the moment."

"Good. You may now be dismissed."

As Tsukune scooped up the brief case and opened the door, the younger man called out to him.

"Hey. We need your full confidence on this one. It may not sound much, but we put a lot of effort into it. We even already did recon. You'll see what I mean when we're already there. Till then, Semper Fi."

The usual haughty tone from the vampire's voice was almost non-existent and replaced with slightly more gentler one. Deep down below that tough exterior, behind all that sophistication, the guy was really just a kid. It reminded Tsukune of himself. Maybe Ryota wasn't so bad after all.

For the first in a long time, Tsukune smiled a genuine one "Sure thing."

*Fade to black*

* * *

Five days later…

"I swear once I get the fuck outta here, I'm going to kill every last one of you motherfuckers." Ryota said from his chair.

Bloodily beaten to a pulp, tied to a chair, watching as your comrade-in the same position- struggles to fight his way out of death's reach is something any decent living being should be spared of experiencing.

The woman sauntered up to Ryota and aimed the silver pistol while keeping the black one directed at him.

"RYOTA!" Tsukune roars with all of his might, blood gurgling in his mouth. He squirmed and grunted desperately in his chair. The chains that held him together were made of specialized _ice _that could negate any sort of Yokai power. All the rage he kept bottled up exploded. His tear stained eyes burning with fury that held no limit.

"NO! NO! NO! YOU MOTHERFUCKER! DON'T YOU DARE DO IT! DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING DO IT! OH GOD NO!"

His most trusted weapons which were aptly called "Yin" and "Yang", two heavily modified twin Desert Eagles, were now the most fear-inducing pieces of metal he had ever seen.

BANG!

"NO!"

.50 Caliber silver rounds with explosive tips, coated with a thin layer of holy water and powered by youki instead the usual gunpowder, provides a massive kick and equally massive damage- as Tsukune witnessed in his time of using the twin pistols. It worked on a lot of youkai, especially vampires- vampires like Ryota.

Blood splattered on Tsukune's face as Ryota spewed out a jet of the thick red substance. The chair got blown back to the floor due to the impact. Right at the chest, with the exit-wound nearly the size of a basketball.

As Ryota's body limped, bloody tears of rage started pouring out "FUCK! AHHHHHHH! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" he mustered up all his strength to break free, but to no avail. It brought him back to the Fairy Tale invasion. He already lost a comrade then, and swore that he would never lose one again.

The usually calm and cold Tsukune suddenly transformed into an animal. He's yelling, pulling, tugging, and growling. The teeth that kept grinding together were at verge of cracking as blood started to seep in between.

His body was in a whirlwind of emotion. By that time, the cuffs were digging themselves into his wrists. Blood trickled down on the cold ice floor and started to pool.

No remorse whatsoever. The killer didn't even let the man say his final words for Christ's sakes. Maybe she saw an incoming insult on the way and knowing Ryota, it was very much indeed going to be an insult.

He kept shouting pained "FUCK!"s over and over again while taking short breaths in between shouts as he tried to look away. Never had he been in a situation as compromising as this.

Sparing the man a cute smile and flying kiss, the killer promptly turned herself around. The bitch seemed to derive a sort of deranged pleasure from hearing and seeing him scream in agony.

She walked seductively, swinging her hips every time she took a step, adding insult to injury.

Alluring to most, but to him- he just wanted to rip her fucking head off. By then, he felt an insatiable blood lust and the urge to go on a unadulterated massacre. The beast he kept locked up was itching to be set free. There will be hell to pay once he breaks loose. And when he does, they're going to regret not tearing his fucking head off from the start. Nothing can stop him now.

The ice that held him together started to crack, and out came more blood. He was at the boiling point of his sanity, the growing ghoul markings as a sign.

With a one last breath, he desperately put up the strength and anger to deliver one final blood curdling roar.

"RIAAAAA!"

*Cut to black*

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: I hold no ownership of the character "Ria Sekitan" from the hit fan-fic series and it spin-offs by none other than the mistress herself: MistressWinowyll (please don't sue me). **

**Yeah I had this I idea ever since I first read the 'Get What You Deserved" fics (by DarkSwordMage by the way(again, please don't sue me)). Since this is an alternate universe ending, anything can happen, such as a an alternate dimension Ria. **

**Maybe Akuha will make her entrance next? See you guys soon.**


	7. Coffee and Cliched Meetings 2

"_Sure thing…"_

"I'm gonna get some coffee, you want some coffee?" Tsukune offered...and said it so fast that it sounded like one long word.

"Black. French Roast. No sugar. Oh, and throw in a bagel while you're at it."

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter Se7en: Coffee, Underpaid Journalists and Clichéd Meetings#2

Five days earlier…

"_Can I at least know your name?!"_

_He turned around "Tsukune…"_

"So that was Tsukune Aono… Now I know why Kurumu loved him so much." She muttered to herself with a slight blush on her face.

The model lay splattered on the sofa and didn't bother on going to work. Every now and then a couple of journalists and reporters would come knocking at her door, asking for any details on the incident, only to have the door slammed right on their faces. Sometimes she would hope that the person that would come knocking would be him going to check on her if she was alright.

It was like a broken record. The images of the night played on and on in a continuous loop, so vivid and so real that every time she closed her eyes she would see the faces of the bastards that almost gave her a faith worse than death. She was so scared back then. The dreaded feeling of getting violated was a thing that she never wanted to experience, and she was so close of experiencing it if not for Tsukune. Ahhh...Tsukune. She never thought that any man would be so alluring. She wanted to see him again. Hell, she even wore the same coat that he let her keep.

Her eyes lit up when she heard the sound of knocking. And like a smitten schoolgirl, she jumped off the sofa and ran to the door only to find…

"Kurumu?"

The petite succubus raised an eyebrow, she sounded disappointed "I just came in to check on you senpai. I heard on the news what happened. I was so worried."

An appreciative smile crept up her lips "Thank you, my dear little kouhai. Come on inside."

* * *

Yesterday(of that five days earlier; which makes it six days earlier if we separate this flashback from the one above...what?)...

Fate was a bitch that needed to be slapped in the face left and right.

After that rather heart-crushing reunion with Tsukune after 7 years, the kind where it leaves the heart into red mush, the gang let it be and returned to the reason why they were all at the cemetery in the first place.

"_Don't you dare follow me." _He said it with such a frigid tone it made the snow woman shiver. More so than that, he even threatened them with a gun. Scrap that, he threatened them with two.

And the way he looked at them…It struck every chords in all of their pathetic little heartstrings, except Sun, since she didn't have much screen-time with Tsukune.

Poor Kurumu, the succubus had it the worst. If you think going on 7 years without even knowing the location of her so-called "destined one" and pretty much living those 7 years without the love she yearned for was bad, how about reuniting with the man she loved for it to end up having him aim a gun directly at her face, in between the eyes?

As they walked back with pale faces and spirits shattered, Haiji stood before the grave of his fallen friend and placed down the flowers.

He didn't give a damn anymore. He was already dead inside. He quit Karate after Fairy Tale and lived his life as a bouncer-turned- bodyguard that was yet to be hired. Like Gin, he too had potential and all that was taken away by the same fuckers that took his friend's life. He looked at the others while they were making their way back and caught Sun and Yukari's gazes. He nodded to them and started walking away.

Sun ran off after him. "Senpai!" the witch yelled as she followed suit; this caught the other girls' attentions and reluctantly joined her.

When they caught up to him, he still continued walking and ignored them. Sun spoke up "Haiji, where are you going?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm leaving…"

Sun grabbed his arm. He stopped mid-stride and stood rooted to his position "But why?" the others finally caught up with them.

He turned around with a scowl on his face "I'm sorry, but have you guys forgotten the reason why we are here in the first place? And if you did, let me refresh your memories: it's Ginei Morioka's death anniversary." He yanked away his arm "I can't stand you guys. The moment you saw that bastard, you completely disregarded everything else and ran after him, arguing like little bitches; right in front of his fuckin' grave." His words stung deeply, especially to Kurumu, since the entire time that he admonished them, his heated glare was directed at her.

"But-" Kurumu was cut off when a strong blast of wind went past her. Frozen in her place with shock, she saw the Tengu in his trademark karate stance.

Haiji turned around and resumed walking "If you get that, then stay the hell outta my way."

* * *

"So how was the reunion yesterday?"

Kurumu buried her face in one of the couch's pillow "Fine dandy…"

"The tone in your voice says otherwise. What happened?"

"We went our separate ways before anything started…"

Rebecca shook her head "Ouch…"

"Care to tell me the rest of the details?"

"I don't really want to talk about it…"

The older woman saw the look on her kouhai's face and patted her on the head. She felt sorry for her and gave the succubus' a reassuring smile.

Kurumu sighed "Wanna go get some coffee?"

\\\

"Now that I think about it, I shouldn't have been so hard on the guys. They were my friends. Nah, after that littler scuffle, I doubt they still are."

He scratched his head "Fong was right, I never should've broken rule #2…" He had plenty of time to sulk at the bar, and now he chooses this moment, what a load of bull.

He didn't bother on taking the motorcycle; it'd be just a waste of time. He needed to set his mind at ease. As he was nearing the coffee shop, Tsukune scanned the surroundings. For all that time, he felt a pair of eyes following his every move and even felt a spike of Youki. He quickened his pace, from walking to running, and hastily entered the nearest coffee shop that he could find.

The coffee shop was located in an isolated part of the city. It was small and a decent place. Not many customers would visit, for it had none too decent exposure due to its location. But nevertheless, its quiet atmosphere and location made it a great hide out for celebrities running away from the burning camera flash of the damn paparazzi.

\\\

A few minutes earlier in the same coffee shop (before Tsukune went in)…

(Nameless Reporter#1) slapped his hand on the table in frustration "Damn! We're never gonna get paid if we keep going at it like this."

"Yeah, she's been holing up in that apartment and doesn't even let us finish a damn sentence!" (Nameless Reporter#2) buried her face in her hands "So much for this scoop…"

"You know, I kinda feel sorry for her. I mean, the woman almost got raped for Kami's sake! And now she's being pestered by underpaid journalists after an _almost_ horrific emotionally, and even perhaps, mentally traumatizing ordeal of the worst kind. Kami was generous enough to let her be spared from a fate nothing short of being dead. Well, she might as well be dead, if everything happened the other way. Bottom line is... If I was in her position, I would've holed up in my apartment too…"

Vapid stares and awkward silence ensued...

"Oh, shut up (Nameless Cameraman# 1)! You don't even have an apartment; you live with your grand-mother! In the basement!" she rebuked.

Then the trio heard laughter from the table besides them. There were 4 gals and a guy.

"You got rejected too?" (Nameless News lady#1) asked in between fits of laughter.

"Yeah, pretty much." (Nameless Reporter#1) replied, hanging his head low.

"Then, welcome to the club!" One of the ladies from the other table shouted.

The quiet atmosphere soon got washed over with laughter as the two groups of rejected news reporters and camera men (& women), merged the two tables and continued sharing their stories of failure to one another.

Then suddenly a trio of men entered the fray, well not really, they were just sitting behind the original trio.

"Hey, don't leave us out!" a man, (Nameless Reporter #3), who seemed to be the other trio's leader spoke out.

"Rejected?" (Nameless guy from the group of gals) asked.

(Nameless Reporter #3) just smiled and they all burst out laughing. He motioned the two other men and joined the rest of the unfortunate reporters and continued to bathe the coffee shop with giggles and hearty chuckles (the kind that drunk old men do).

It's funny how three groups of complete strangers could come together due to something so coincidental.

\\\

"You know, you can't just go out like that on your own."

Two figures clad in black cloaks stood on top of a building just across the coffee shop, with the other one holding a huge ass death-scythe for all the civvies down there to see. "Your life is being targeted." the cloaked figure continued to scold its companion.

"I can handle myself." Came the companion's reply; the voice, feminine, but powerful. "I just wanted to see him again…"

"Bullshit, onee-sama."

Then they spotted Tsukune running down the sidewalk "Look at him, he's running!"

"Guess he felt our presence…"

\\\

The doors flung open and Tsukune went in, catching his breath after the long sprint away from distressing feeling of invisible eyes following your every move. The laughter died down for a bit when he noticed that the reporters, unknown to him that they were reporters at that time, were staring at him.

Just as his unease started to simmer down, he then found himself being followed by another set of eyes, this time, there were a _lot_ more of them.

* * *

"Hey who's that?" (Nameless Reporter # 2) whispered to (Gal from 2nd group).

"Where?"

"That guy in the grey shirt, black pants, knee high boots, and the weird rosary-like thingy!"

"I don't know, but I think he's cute. With him wearing those gloves, he looks a lot like rebel, don't you think?"

"No, he looks more like from the military…"

SMACK!

(Nameless Reporter #1) smacked her on the head "You're always thinking about men!"

* * *

Shrugging off their apparent gazes, he walked over the counter and placed his order.

A few minutes later…

"Here you go thanks and come again!" the cashier handed him the goods for take-out: One French roast for Ryota, one Café _Mocha _for himselfand a creamed cheese bagel.

He felt his phone vibrate inside his pocket and looked at the cashier "Bathroom?"

"Over there."

"Thanks"

He went over to the bathroom door and placed his order down on a vacant table beside it and went inside. The vampire leaned on the sink and pulled out his phone. And on the screen was a caller ID of a _very_ goofy looking Fong (looking at the camera) shaking hands with the president of China, in a serious and dignified state.

"Hey there, Fong."

* * *

Kurumu and Rebecca entered the coffee shop, and at the same time he went inside the bathroom, a clichéd scenario worthy of any rom-com.

Clad in a black hoodie jacket, jeans and matching shades to avoid any unwarranted paparazzi action, Rebecca scanned the area and was glad to say that the coast was clear. Unfortunately for her, she was wrong in the worst possible way. They found a neat little table by the store window and the older model pulled up a chair and sat down while Kurumu pulled out her wallet from her purse. "You know, this place could be a really great hideout for people like us."

Kurumu scanned the surroundings but didn't share her senpai's enthusiasm and just lazily sighed… "What'll you have senpai?"

* * *

"Hey check out that girl, you know, the one with the hoodie?" (Nameless Reporter #1) whispered to (Nameless Reporter #3).

"Nah, I don't like emo chicks. But that boob-girl with the blue hair sure is cute!"

"That's Kurumu Kurono, you know, the model?... Wait, I don't think she's emo…" he countered.

SMACK!

(Nameless Reporter#2) smacked him in the head "You're always talking about women! 35 and the only woman who still loves you is your mother!"

* * *

The young man leaned his head back "Fong, I need to get an appointment with Tohou Fuhai-sama…again." He raised his right hand and stared at the seal.

"_Why? Something happened?"_

He gulped "I thought I was a vampire, but now…I don't know what I am anymore."

"_I'll try, but you know how busy he is…"_

"I can wait."

"_Before I hang up, how's the mission doing?"_

"Splendid" his voice oozing with sarcasm.

"_Hmp! Just what I wanted to hear." _The mafia lord soon hung up.

"Cheeky bastard…"

With his mind in a daze, he shoved the phone back into his pocket and let himself retreat in the relaxing-yet-eerie sound of silence.

* * *

The busty succubus placed the goods on their table "Here you go senpai" and handed her a cup of latte before walking off.

"Kurumu, where are you going?"

"To the bathroom, I'm just going to do a quick touch-up."

The older woman's eyes followed the succubus as she made her way towards the bathroom, and at the exact same time, the door to the male's opened and Tsukune stepped out. What a scene. If Kurumu just knew, then no doubt a rampage would ensue.

Purple orbs widened like saucers. It was him! To think there's a one in a million chance of getting to see her savior once more. But he didn't seem to notice her, so she got ready to make her move. As he passed her table, Rebecca stood up from her chair and grabbed his hand, just as he was about to exit the shop.

* * *

"OHHH! Looks like you're emo girl over there got herself a _fine_ catch!" (Nameless Gal from 2nd group) nudged the poor cherry boy of a man. That sassy bitch.

* * *

He sprung around to see who it was, cross-popping veins and all. At first he was like "Who the hell is this?" He peered in closer and asked "Who are you?" He took out the 'hell' to avoid leaving any sort of nasty impression.

She lowered her hoodie to reveal that pretty face of hers. The group of fail-reporters' eyes dilated with shock. "T-That's…That's Rebecca Lee! And she's holding his hand!" They all silently went into business mode, taking out their cameras and recorders. Like a bunch of hunters arming up for the game of a lifetime.

Deadpan at his highest point (think chibi), Tsukune yanked his hand away from her grip "Y-you're the woman from before…"

Blushing profusely like a giddy little high-schooler, she brought up whatever willpower she had remaining "H-hi…"

After a few seconds or so of awkward stares and uncomfortable silence, he turned around to leave "Well, be seeing you…" and waved his hand as he casually strode out of the store.

"_M-matte!" _The model ran after him. The move stirred up the reporters and they all stood up.

* * *

From the rooftop the other companion sat lazily on the floor, hugging her knees and resting the death scythe besides her while the other just stood nobly and looked on.

"Oh look, he's coming out."

At the sound of 'he', the cloaked figure diverted her gaze "Where?"

"And he has a _woman _with him…" the snarky companion inquired.

"WHAT?!"

The pair saw Tsukune and the other woman as they had a conversation, with said girl acting very flirty and somewhat touchy.

"That bitch!" she clenched her fist.

* * *

"How's your hand?"

"It's fine actually. Still healing…"

"Oh…"

Again, a moment of silence, the conversation was going nowhere at this point.

"You know, Tsukune-san, I never did give you a proper thank you…y-you know…f-for saving me…"

"Nah, no need, just trying to be a Good Samaritan."

"No really, please, it's the least I can do. My birthday's coming up and there's going to be a party held at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo tomorrow night. You should come…" she gently cupped his hands. He just let it slide though.

"You went through all of that last night, and you're still going to carry on with your party? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Ahaha, well, those were pretty expensive arrangements and it would be bad to let it go to waste…"

_Wait! Grand Hyatt Tokyo? Birthday? Tomorrow night? Holy shit!_

"Umm, I never did get your name…?"

"It's Rebecca…"

_Holy shit! I was having a conversation with the target's daughter all this time?!_

**_"If you find some information or anything that could make your job easier, go for it."_**

"Well then, Rebecca-san, I would be honored."

She swore she could see bishie-sparkles around him. She needed to remind herself that she was not the heroine of a shojo manga. "Delightful! Can I have your number?"

"Sure." He pulled out his phone.

BAM!

The reporters suddenly blasted out of the doors and surrounded the two like flies hovering over dog shit. They bombarded them with questions and camera flashes; it was overwhelming for the model, not so much for Tsukune. Then he remembered:

_**"Stay low or you might cause some attention"**_

His face was going to be seen on live television! He grabbed the models arm and made a run for it.

"He's with a celebrity now?!" the cloaked being from the rooftop growled.

"Get after them!" (Nameless Reporter#3) ordered and they did.

The cloaked being motioned to her companion "Come on, let's follow them." and darted across the rooftop and jumped to another one as they tailed the two.

Meanwhile, back at the coffee shop, Kurumu emerged from the ladies room and noticed that the few customers that were there, and her senpai, were gone.

* * *

"Over here!" he pulled her inside an alley and hid behind a dumpster.

Following in the tradition of sheer idiocy, where any and all stereotypical groups of people (i.e. mobs) were concerned, they just ran straight without even checking if there was the slightest chance that they would hide in a dark corner such as an alley.

"I think they're gone." He stood up and took a peak outside "Stupid bastards."

"No, they'll be back. I know the paparazzi. Sorry about dragging you into this mess."

He felt like smashing his own face on the brick wall and hers for the matter. No, he would definitely smash hers, as he would regret smashing his in the heat of the moment. Not only did he break protocol once, but twice! The young man predicted another sermon/scolding would be coming his way. He looked over at the cause of it all, hiding his irritation the best his sanity could take. "And I suggest that you leave before they do."

"What?"

Before she could say anything else, he was already gone.

Meanwhile back at the coffee shop, the succubus just sat in her seat, sipping on her coffee and waiting in silence for her senpai to return.

\\\

"Goddamnit! All of my enemies will see my face on. Live. Television." He grumbled as he stomped his way on a rather empty street, clenching his fist, careful not to crush the bag of goods on his other hand. "What the hell am I going to do now?"

The same youki he felt earlier briefly spiked once more. That's enough for him to pinpoint the source.

There, on top of the building! He spotted the two black reapers staring at him.

Dramatic wind entered the scene, sweeping down the cloaked being's hood.

The slits on his vampiric eyes thinned "Fuck…me…"

Red eyes the same as his, long and flowing silver hair; a goddess to some and a demon to others. Beauty incarnate: Moka Akashiya.

"M-Moka?"

"He spotted us" the other companion warned. "Let's go…"

"W-wait!"

He was in such a shock that he didn't know what the hell he was doing. After all this time he wouldn't know what to do. In the midst of crisis, crisis referring to the internal conflict that ensued within his mind; a conflict on whether to run up that very building where she's standing and treat her with hostility that in which he would finally get answers to the unanswered "Why did you leave me?", or just let it be and let fate lead him to the answers himself.

Realizing that he was just staring at her and vice-versa, as if she was waiting for his reaction, he just closed his eyes and smiled.

The pseudo-vampire outstretched his free arm, imitating a gun with his fingers and aimed it at the two black silhouettes.

He chose the latter, knowing indeed that they would meet again, one way or another. And just as Kurumu thought: Indeed, fate was a bitch.

"Bang."

*Cut to black*

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: So that was the original chapter six! Now turned into a chapter 7!**

**To slwsnowman40 and "Guest"(whoever you are): Thanks for reviewing, and don't worry mates, I promise you that I will. In a very painful way.**

**Please leave some feedback! Thanks for reading!**

**Oh and Tsukune's new uniform is on my profile XD**

* * *

_-The Real Folk Blues- Mai Yamane- (or any music to your preference)_

The next night…

Waiter by day and vampiric assassin by night: This was the easiest way to describe Ryota Sakurai's current assignment. The mission was fast approaching and it was almost time for his other persona to take the stage. Dressed in the usual waiter attire- white long sleeve dress shirt, slacks and a vest- Ryota silently sat at the Wong Mafia HQ's armory with his legs propped up on a table while tightening his black leather gloves.

Burning red eyes pierced the dark room with a hellish glow that pulsed with cold and steely determination. Bullets were splayed across his bed while he sat at the edge of his windowsill while he polished his guns to a clean shine, glimmering in the dark as his eyes were. Clad in a black coat, a dark grey long sleeve button up, a black vest, black pants from his uniform, fingerless gloves and the knee high boots (also from his uniform); Tsukune was dressed to kill. Literally. He stared out, watching as the night buzzed with life. The full moon was out, and it made the scenery all the more beautiful.

Moka stood in front of the mirror all dolled-up. Clad in a red gown with her beautiful silver hair styled in an up-do. Crimson orbs lacked the usual fire that she had, it made her feel weak. Disgusted with herself, she slammed her delicate fist onto the glass and pulled it out. She stared at her knuckles and slightly winced at the sting of small glass shards being regurgitated from her skin as the wounds closed, leaving not a hint of it being wounded at all.

At the same time, at another place, in front of another mirror; Kurumu stared at the blue haired girl in front of her with dead eyes as she applied her makeup. Her soul was crushed, and was at the nearest point of withering away. But, the show must go one, even if she had to put on that fake smile, even if she was already dead inside. Beside her was her senpai and the woman of the night, doing the same albeit in more cheerful demeanor.

The Black Devil jumped from building to building and stopped until she ended up on the tip of a communications tower on top of another building. Clad in the trademark black, form fitting dress that covered every visible spot of skin on her body (except the head and neck of course) with thigh high slits on either sides to reveal those creamy legs, she looked down at the city and observed the petty humans below. A midst the sea of concrete and steel, one in particular stood out with all of it's dazzling lights: The Grand Hyatt Tokyo. A manic grin formed on her lips as soon as she saw the end of her long travel and the start of a new massacre. "Oh me, oh my..."

A large gust of wind sent their black coats billowing as a helicopter descended down from the heavens and on to a landing pad on the hotel's roof. As the heli-blades came slowly to halt, a bald man and his companions stepped out and were greeted by the staff and some other shady men.

All of the actors were getting ready for the stage...

* * *

BAM!

The doors flew open and Tsukune stepped in, instinctively bobbing his head in accordance with the beat. Loud music blaring, the booze were flowing, the DJ's mixing, laser lights going about like crazy, and lots of people dancing. Now that is what you call a birthday bash.

"_Alright Tsukune, I'm in..." _Ryota relayed through his earpiece.

"Let's get this party started."

*Cut to black*


	8. Game Time

Again, Tsukune's new uniform is on my profile!~

* * *

Wong Manor, Hong Kong…

Full moon was out. A sense foreboding dread suddenly filled the air.

Wong Fong-Fong, wearing a loose, grey yukata, stood on the balcony while leisurely smoking his pipe. The mafia don really resembled his great-grandfather. Especially with his hair styled down rather than the usual braids.

A drop of water landed on his head. He outstretched his arm, and more droplets pelted against his hand.

He observed the forming darkness in the clouds. A loud booming soon followed. Sweet serendipity, be damned. Something bad was going happen tonight and he knew it. That gut of his never went wrong.

Taking a drag from his pipe, he sauntered back inside and switched on the flat screen.

Wong flipped on the channels.

"_Hello everyone this is I****r E****n: Asia, your number 1 source of the juiciest celebrity gossip, and I'm here tonight at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo in what appears to be the birthday celebration of the year!" _ The camera panned across the entire joint "_After going through a harrowing ordeal, the model/actor has rebounded with a vengeance. Not only a few days ago had she been involved in an attempted sexual assault just to be saved in the nick of time by an unknown passerby. And just yesterday, the model, who's not only known for her stage presence but also in her being a 30 year old bachelorette had been spotted with a man that was suspected to be her savior and what could possibly be her lover :" _Image intercepted with Rebecca as she lovingly holds Tsukune's hand.

* * *

Aono residence…

Kasumi blinked and rubbed her eyes… and blinked again "K-Koji!"

The husband walked in lazily on her call "What is it?"

She was stuttering, which was incredibly uncharacteristic for a woman like her, besides the fact that her usually closed eyes were wide open. "I-it's Tsukune! Our little boy is on TV!"

He gave an indifferent look "Doesn't seem so 'little' anymore. Look at him; he's like a goddamn fitness instructor!"

"Oh my, well at least our son is in safe hands (not to mention that I love her shows)." She was already jumping to conclusions "I approve of the relationship!"

* * *

Fong almost choked on his own tobacco smoke and his eyes bulged out of their sockets. Way to ruin the serious mood earlier. The mother of all face palms ensued.

"Oh my god, Tsukune, you bastard…" and he nonchalantly flipped the channels again, face still buried in hand. "You _are _going to be the end of me…"

"_A string of related assassinations have been discovered_-"

Suddenly realizing the subject of the scoop, he returned to the channel that piqued his interest.

"-_all of them involved with political affairs. It started out in Korea and then to China, and now, even in Japan. Just then another victim was found in Hong Kong, but what makes the latest victim different is that he doesn't have a connection with any sort of political power." _The image got intercepted with the picture of said victim "_The victim's name was Huang Xin-Xiang…"_

He rose from his chair in a bout of shock "T-that's my great-grandfather's personal assistant!"

"_Each of the victims' bodies, approximately 13 in body count, appears to have been branded with an unknown seal just below the right ear._" The camera goes to a still image of the said seal. It seemed to be in a shape of a flower, and at the center was a skull. Strange. It looked like a…

_-Donten- Does-_

"Lotus…" The pipe in his hand snapped into two "A Black Lotus…"

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter Eight: Game Time

As the two sat in silence, occasionally going into a conversation, and ate their food, Tsukune stopped and stared at her.

Having felt his scrutinizing gaze, she looked up to the pale brown orbs of her unlikely savior "What's up?"

"You shouldn't put your trust in me so much. You don't know if you might get hurt."

"Why? Is there something dire I need to know about you?" she said in an accusing tone.

He shook his head "What I meant to say was: don't trust people you've only met for a few days."

2 hours into the party…

In the first hour, there was a large buffet in which Tsukune had to reluctantly participate in as he was dragged by the birthday girl herself, while some other celebrities went to the spotlight and gave her nice, life affirming speeches that could've been roughly translated as a simple "Happy Birthday!".

And in second hour or so, there were two major bands (SPYAIR and BUCK-TICK) that played for the woman's celebration, the both of them having connections to her such as their being 'friends' from the former and 'being great fans' from the latter.

While the crowd was preoccupied and certainly enjoying the third band 'DOES' while they played 'Donten', the pseudo vampire just stood in a corner, leaning on the wall with arms crossed; scanning the perimeter in his default expression of stoic iciness.

"May I offer you a drink, sir?" a waiter approached him with a tray of brandy shots.

His eyes rolled to the side "No, thank you." The 'waiter' snickered.

"Better be careful, Ryota…"

The younger male's expression shifted into an equally icy state, the cheerful demeanor from before nonexistent. "Why? You felt it too?"

Tsukune returned in observing "Yeah…ever since I entered this place. There's a new player in town. It's been masking its youki signature somehow and I can't pinpoint it." His brows scrunched to reveal a little irritation.

He nudged his companion "Check out those two guards on the balcony…" he turned his head to the right "Towards the exit…" and to the left "The entrance…" he stood up straight and walked in another direction "They're watching us." He took a glance to the side. "I also got a call from Fong earlier."

Ryota raised a brow "What did he say?"

"They've declared war on us, by killing the personal assistant of Tohou Fuhai and branding the corpse with their seal."

The vampire's eyes narrowed. Out of all times, why did they pick a fight now? Was it because of that damned artifact or were they just having a bad day?

"Also…" he faced the front "check out the woman in black, on your six." and continued walking on, like they weren't even acquainted "She's been tracing our movement for the past to two hours."

Ryota risked a surreptitious glance and indeed saw a woman in black, wearing an eye patch and a polite smile on her face, before disappearing into the shadows. The vampire tightened his grip on the tray before disappearing into the shadows himself.

_-Music end-_

"THANK YOU EVERYONE AND I WANT TO WISH MY FRIEND OVER THERE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Nana Mizuki suddenly butted in "AND NOW, A WORD FROM THE BIRTHDAY GIRL HERSELF!"

\\\

Kokoa stepped in and asked her dear aneue "You ready?"

Moka adjusted her dress. Damn tube tops. "I hate parties."

After Gyokuro and Kahlua were killed- while Akua suddenly vanished from the face of the earth- Kokoa was the only remaining Shuzen that wasn't dead and/or had disappeared. Since Moka wasn't a Shuzen, Kokoa was left with shouldering the responsibility of running a massive organization of mafia vampires that were down to a head count of more than 30, due to her psychopathic-bitch of a 'mother' using the members as her personal 'bodyguards' composed of mindless gelatinous blobs of flesh, eyes and teeth.

But as time flew by, the clan was steadily returning to its former glory via Kokoa's superb leadership, despite her somewhat naïve and violent approaches, and help from other clans that swore their never-ending allegiance to Shuzens.

And with the subject of "Every ruling figure needs a partner." the Shuzen head regretted to having been the new matriarch of one of the darkest sides of the underworld. She didn't want to get hitched! Even less to some bum from the other clans! She had to find a scapegoat somehow…

"Well, you better get used to life as an aristocrat now. Come on, you're meeting someone today."

"And I really **don't give a fuck**, about blind dates." She glared, with demonic aura thick enough to slice a knife through.

\\\

"I cannot **believe** that we landed on the rooftop of a different hotel!" Xi Lou-Hui was infuriated while his chauffeur tried his best in quelling the man's anger.

"I am really, really, sorry sir! I didn't know that the map was upside down!"

After that most extravagant entrance of Xi Lou-Hui and Co. on the stinger for chapter 7, shortly after they landed and were greeted by the 'hotel staff and some other shady men'-who were the security by the way- the mafia dad and his posse were asked to leave the premises after he asked "Is this even the Grand Hyatt Tokyo?"

Turns out they landed on the **Park** Hyatt Hotel, right in the center of Tokyo as they found out from the manager.

"Sorry?! What do you mean you're sorry?! The map wasn't even upside-down! Yet we ended up on the other side of Tokyo! We even had to gas up the helicopter and have to spend three hours in the hotel restaurant! My daughter already hates me and now she'll end up hating me even more for missing her 30th birthday!"

* * *

"_Is everyone enjoying the party?!"_

Answered shortly by loud cheers from the roaring crowd.

"_Wow, umm, I just wanted to say thank you so very much for coming to my birthday, you too Nana, even though it somehow turned into my sweet 16."_ Followed by laughter from the crowd_ "I am so really honored to have all of you here to celebrate with me. Really I do." _she choked _"Look at me I'm tearing up!" _

Tsukune watched from the sidelines, and kept a keen eye on her.

"Hey."

His head shot to the side. Someone was able sneak beside him without him even noticing, which was strange. Who he found was the same girl with the eye patch from back then. He found something odd about her. The way she dressed, the way she looked at him and even more so, the strange aura she was emitting. His eyes narrowed with suspicion for the briefest of seconds, before shifting to his other persona.

"Oh, hey." He offered her his hand "Takashi Imai."

She took the gesture "You can call me Ria." The woman scooted up to his side and pressed their shoulders together. Tsukune grimaced inwardly.

**_If you don't back away from me, I will smash your face to the ground._**

Ria leaned closer to his ear "So, Ta-ka-shi ~…want to go somewhere quiet?" her voice seductive and oozing with lust, and a kind of dangerous one at that. Then she heard the sound of knuckles cracking.

"_Bottom-line is, I wouldn't even be here tonight because of this special person. And if it wasn't for this special person, I might've as well ended up in a ditch somewhere. So ladies and gentlemen I'd like for you to all meet my savior: Tsukune Aono!"_

Kurumu spat her drink at the nearest person. Tsukune was here? Sure she'd seen her senpai sitting with someone that looked awfully a lot like Tsukune, but she didn't know it was really him. The succubus looked around frantically, searching in any and all angles and degrees that her neck could possibly achieve.

His eyes widened once he heard his name and visibly flinched, earning a suspicious-yet-seductive gaze from his momentary companion.

A bright, beam of light shone on his position, it took them a while, but still. He was in very deep shit. His cover was blown; he should've used his pseudonym in the very beginning! But how could he have known that the person he saved was a fucking celebrity?! And an obsessive one at that!

They all looked at him with appreciative glances and smiles. Rebecca started clapping and the rest soon followed.

"Guess, you better go up there…" she disappeared "Takashi Imai."

_Very, very deep shit._

"_C'mon Tsukune get up here!" _

"Uhh, n-no need- WHOA!"

The crowd led (dragged) him towards the birthday girl. He couldn't possibly make a scene and only hoped for the best.

"_Oi, Tsukune! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" _Ryota scolded him through his earpiece.

Kurumu's eyes followed the crowd that was gathering and dragging him along towards the stage.

"So, Tsukune-san" Nana started "Do you have anything to say?"

The pseudo-vampire found it completely strange that Nana Mizuki sounded exactly like Moka. Since he was at the point of no return, he might as well just go with it "Hi I'm T-Tsukune and I just wanted to say Happy Birthday, Rebecca! I'm sorry that I don't have a gift though."

The model gave him a kiss on the cheek "Nah, it's okay."

The crowd went crazy; shouting "oooohhhh's" and "awwwww's".

At that point, Kasumi was jumping in joy at the sofa, laughing like a madman.

Fong almost had a heart attack.

That bitch! Kurumu had to keep herself in check from transforming into her true form and slashing her senpai into little red ribbons.

He never felt this sort humiliation before, well maybe there was one time with the cat…

He quickly went into his assassin mode when he saw Xi Lou-Hui and his posse cutting through the crowd.

"_Oi, Tsukune! Get the fuck down from there! The target is approaching the vicinity! Do **not **let him see you! I repeat, do **not **let him see you."_

"Umm, if you need me I'll just be going to the bathroom. I kinda had a few drinks, and I'm a bit rather tipsy." He whispered to Rebecca's ear. She nodded in return and allowed him to leave the stage, but not before telling him to come back as soon as possible.

* * *

"Alright, Tsukune you know the plan right? Lights out and we bag him and tag him."

Tsukune splashed his face with a little bit of water "The whole mission was almost compromised because of me…" True that. If it came to any other operatives like him, he would've been made a laughing stock due to his complete unprofessionalism.

"Don't sweat it too much, you'll get wrinkles."

"What!?"

"But first you go on back there. I'll tail him and his posse to where they'll be holding up. I'll page you in once we're all set."

* * *

A shared silence between father and daughter was especially awkward if said daughter hates the said father with all her being. Only problem was, she couldn't afford to hate on him publically. She had to swallow her pride and go with the flow.

"Happy Birthday, _Xi Li-Mei." _He patted her affectionately on the head and in return got a hug from his daughter, yet another uncharacteristic moment in the story.

Nothing better than looking good for the camera and giving out some fake smiles.

"_Xie xie ni, Papa."_

* * *

1 hour later…

The surveillance cameras were shutting down one by one as the guards that were monitoring them found out.

Unable to risk in causing general concern, they just tightened up the security and sent someone to go fix the problem.

And in that 1 hour, gift unwrapping took place. The only thing you need to know was that the gifts were extravagant. After that, Tsukune was yet again reluctantly pulled into an activity that he found very displeasing, in the form of dance. By none other than the birthday girl, which in turn, received numerous girlish 'squees' from the female fandom.

He went along for formalities sake.

30 minutes in and Tsukune just sat down and waited for the signal, while the others danced to the slow tempo of the music. What was taking so long? Was Ryota just having a ball with his humiliation? He mentally noted to kick the son of a bitch in the balls later... or maybe a knock in the head? As he sat there pondering on a proper punishment for his partner in crime, Kurumu approached him, not in the slightest bit fazed or cautious of his behavior from last time.

"Want to dance?" Why not? It seemed better than waiting in his chair and growing mushrooms.

Had he forgotten about what he did to her the other day? "Sure thing." Against the vehement protest of his conscience, he stood up from his chair and led her to the dance floor.

* * *

Xi Lou-Hui, Black Lotus delegates, and some other people in the business were currently having a round table discussion in the hotel's penthouse.

"Daisuke, how's project Hell Storm coming along?"

A young man, no less than 30 replied "Splendid, we did the initial testing after you left and we can confirm that the virus has shown no rejection from the host cells. But-"

"When can it be deployed?"

"…There's a catch…"

"What is it?"

"Due to Alucard's strain, the host can only have a life expectancy of a day. It will take roughly five years of research for it to achieve a normal life expectancy of a human at most and another five for synthesizing."

"Then that means ten more years of funding? We'll get back on that. Nuriko! how about operation Frost Core? What's your story?"

The purple haired woman, like Daisuke, was no less than 30 and had glasses with thick frames "The device is finally attached to the tree. The only thing we need is the power source. We're already getting on that one."

"Deployment?"

"2 weeks or less."

"Good."

* * *

Kurumu placed her hands on his shoulders and he placed his on her waist and danced away. "I don't want to ask for your forgiveness about what happened the other day." He cleared his throat; this sure was awkward.

Just being this close to her destined one was enough for her. She may never get the chance again "Still, I never knew that you were with my senpai now."

He scoffed "We're not an item-"he was cut off when Ryota contacted him on his earpiece.

"_Game time."_

"Really, Tsukune?"

This was getting annoying "Yeah, really."

Ignoring the previous subject "So Tsukune, what's your job?" she suddenly asked out of the blue. "Where do you work for?"

It was the perfect chance on getting her off of him "Well, I have many jobs. Too many, in fact, it's starting to hurt my back a little."

"Then maybe you should quit."

"Nah, the pay is good."

"So, what _is _your job?"

He smiled darkly, something Kurumu found unsettling "You really want to know what my job is? Well since you're a friend, I'll let you in on a little secret. I have many jobs, but there is one that I'm not exactly fond of, but unfortunately I'm the best at it…"He pulled her into an embrace and whispered to her ear.

"_I kill people."_

(Slow-mo) As if all time had stopped, Kurumu froze in her place, hands shaking in terror. He broke off the contact and started walking back slowly into the crowd, never taking his gaze off her until disappearing into the sea of people. Once she got pulled back to reality, the succubus desperately moved through the dancers.

Then BAM! Lights out!

\\\

The pseudo-vampire frantically removed his coat as Ryota threw him a satchel containing his mafia uniform. "What the hell took you so long?!"

"They were having trouble with the accommodations that they made and were moved to another one."

He threw off the vest and ripped his dress shirt open without bothering to unbutton it "Where?"

Ryota grabbed his nodachi from a hidden compartment in the wall and tore off his waiter garments "The penthouse."

Tsukune buttoned up his coat and slid the white belt on the waist of his uniform "Well we better hurry. It won't be long till they found out what's going on and the mission will be blown to hell." he shoved the ripped up clothes in the satchel that Ryota gave him. The younger man on the other hand, got dressed in his Chinese tunic with one quick move.

The vampire unsheathed his nodachi and it glimmered beautifully in the dark "Too right, mate."

He twirled his guns out of their holsters and cocked back the hammers "Game time." And they bolted out of the room, not stopping for anything void of interest.

* * *

The generator kicked in and the joyful atmosphere got drenched with a tense silence. The people stirred into a panic once a deployment of guards brandishing their weapons went through the crowd and to the emergency stairs.

She was still a yokai and no matter what yokai it was, you can be damn sure that their sense of smell was very superb. And she used those sense to track down her _former _destined one.

"Kurumu! What do you think is going on?!" in a fit of panic her senpai scurried to the wary succubus.

"I don't know, but I think we'll find out. Come on!"

\\\

The first thing they received when they ran along the corridor on the way to the penthouse was not a gift bag or a hug, but rather gunfire from the numerous guards that bottlenecked the area.

They assaulted front, guns and swords at their disposal. The two moved so fast and in coordination like it was all choreographed. Everything slowed down for them. They could _see_ the bullets flying right towards their faces only to sidestep in just a split second. Well, that's how they saw it. But, to the guards, they just appeared as black blurs.

A satisfying sound of swords swishing and shots being fired flew in the air.

And before the mooks could possibly ascertain what in Kami's name just happened, the pair of assassins were already behind them, casually walking along. Ryota took three steps before stopping, Tsukune did the same. He slowly inserted the nodachi back into its scabbard, pausing just before it was fully sheathed. Tsukune closed his eyes and twirled the guns closely to the opposite sides of his head.

Shink! Click!

At the exact same time, a fountain of blood erupted from the guards. Once the bodies dropped, the duo then proceeded to the payload.

* * *

"Remember each one of you is armed with a weapon! If anything comes through that door, you use it!" Xi Lou-Hui pandered as they armed up.

Who would've thought that those meek and geeky looking scientist and mafia goons could've packed so much firepower and pass through security? A Spas-12 for Nuriko, an M4 for Daisuke, A Desert Eagle for Xi Lou-Hui and rest only had standard issue Berettas and rifles.

They all focused their attention towards the main door; sweat dropping, fingers uncontrollably shaking. Despite their firepower, they really were just meek and geeky scientists.

"Wait!" they turned around to Xi Lou-Hui's chauffeur.

"What?!" they all shouted in unison.

The lanky man scratched his chin with an intuitive look plastered on his face "I've seen this move before. They all expect us to place our focus on the main door and then they strike through the rear."

"What are you implying?" Nuriko questioned.

"The windows!"

Just then, two unidentified bodies rappelled down and smashed through the plate glass. They opened fire like the 'noobs' that they were and unloaded every piece of bullet and shell that they could possibly use. A scene very reminiscent of Predator.

Brave amateurs, brave-yet-idiotic, relying on the 'spray and pray' tactic, loudly cussing out swear words and screaming like blood-drenched warrior from Sparta. They should've stuck to making sandwi- Errr- working in labs.

For all their scientific minds, they didn't even notice that the bodies they were shooting at were not even reacting, let alone moving. The room got covered with smoke once they finished their little barrage of bullets and some of them ran up to observe their targets.

Confident smirks dropped on their faces once they saw the work they accomplished. The bodies were totally eviscerated. Nuriko and Lou-Hui shared a high five. Then the real shoot out begins… "Wait! These were the body guards!"

BAM!

The doors got kicked off their hinges and Tsukune went in guns blazing. It was all so fast that they didn't have the time to react nor to reload. Muzzle flash from the guns and youjutsu markings on his arms bathe the dark room with blue and purple. He mowed them down, not stopping until every single last one of the fuckers were dead.

The others moved up to blindside Tsukune.

Ryota intercepted them. Two quick slashes and all four of them fell dead.

"That was rather violent- de gozaru." Ryota panted as he sheathed his sword.

Only one was left alive and they found him huddled up behind the mini bar, crying like baby from the carnage.

The younger male pulled him out "Are you Xi Lou-Hui?"

"Please, don't! Why are you doing this?!" not even begging would get him out of this one.

"Oi, Ryota, save the interrogation once we're back in HQ" Tsukune informed.

"Sorry about this." He pinched on the old man's neck and he instantly got knocked out. He carried the man on his shoulder and motioned Tsukune to get going.

As they ran towards the door, the older male stopped in his tracks and beckoned his partner to go on. He noticed a USB sticking out of the deceased Daisuke's pant pocket and decided to keep it, in case of any valuable information.

SNIKT!

Dangerously sharp and long nails found their way to the back of his head "What the hell do you think you're doing Tsukune?!" Behind him was semi-transformed Kurumu. Did I mention that she was pissed off beyond hell?

"…"

"Answer me!"

The pseudo-vampire took a glance over his shoulder. He rapidly turned around and swatted her hand away with a sharp kick.

The succubus got slammed on the floor, face down "I don't know how and I don't know why, but if you stand in my way again." He pulled her on the hair so that his mouth was directly beside her ear "I will not hesitate to kill you."

He slammed her back down and vanished from sight.

That was the final nail to the coffin. He finally said it. Her so-called 'Destined One' finally said that he would kill her if she got in the way. All the physical pain she endured hadn't compared to that moment of something truly cruel. She let it all out. All the tears that she held back from the day he chose Moka over her, his 7 year disappearance, the meeting at the cemetery and to his harsh treatment of her just a few moment earlier. The sweet Tsukune she knew would never do something or say so awful.

"Kurumu!" her senpai found her sobbing on the floor, not minding the dead bodies that lay scatter around the room, and -as if on instinct- quickly wrapped her in a motherly embrace.

\\\

Ryota set up a teleportation spell on the rooftop, not taking the risk of using the helicopter, plus it was way faster. "What happened back there?" he noticed the older man to be quite in a sour mood.

"Forget about it. Let's just go." He took a pack of cigarettes and lit up one, taking in a long drag before releasing the smoke.

"Oi, oi, now's not the time to be smoking..."

"TSUKUNE!"

An all too familiar voice rang in his ear. "Goddamnit!" he withdrew 'Yang' (black pistol) from its holster and aimed it at the owner of said voice. "Why are you so persistent?!"

"Because what you're doing is wrong and you know it!"

"Damn it! Kurumu! I gave you a chance to get away and yet you still ran after me! I have orders to silence any and all witnesses!"

"Then why don't you kill me right here, right now?!"

"Don't tempt me, Kurono."

"It just means that you don't want to!"

Rebecca entered the scene "Kurumu, who are you talking-"and then she saw Tsukune clad in black, pointing an equally black pistol at her kouhai.

Ryota suddenly appeared behind Kurumu and held her neck by the blade. "What shall we do with her?"

"W-wait!" he slowly approached Rebecca.

"T-Tsukune-san, w-what are you doing?" she fearfully backed away.

He smiled somberly and patted her on the head like the last time "I told you, you shouldn't trust guys like me. You don't know when you'll get hurt."

SPLAT!

Blood sprinkled on his face. He looked down and found a sharpened hand sticking out of her stomach that was promptly pulled back out "Oh me oh my, what a dramatic scene that unfolded! It's sending shivers down my spine." The face of the attacker was revealed once she fell to the ground.

"Rebecca-san!" Kurumu cried out. Ryota released his grip on the succubus and went into a combat stance.

"Ria, you motherfucker!" Tsukune pulled out his other pistol and started firing. She vanished in a cloud of black smoke before any of the bullets could hit. Ryota and Tsukune went back-to-back, while Kurumu tended to her senpai. They circled around, looking frantically for the bitch only to hear her diabolical laughter coming out from nowhere. She was toying with them like a predator would to its prey.

"Look up." And they did.

BAM!

She teleported between them and sent the two flying in different directions with well timed palm strikes to their chests. Both of their weapons got flung from their hands.

It started to rain.

Ryota grunted from the shock and impact as he held his chest. He couldn't get up, his lower body got paralyzed. He spotted his nodachi just a meter away from him.

Ria lunged at him first, savoring the _apparent _fear in his eyes. Only thing was, he wasn't the one to scare so easily. The fearful expression soon shifted into a smug one.

(Slow mo) He reached for the blade and impaled her on the chest in mid-air.

"Shove your pussy down this, bitch!"

A copious amount of blood burst from the wound and from her mouth as well. Her hand reached for her eye patch, intending to release an unknown power of her trump card.

-_Meaningful-The Rodeo Carburettor-_

He pulled back the blade just in time for Tsukune to make his entrance. He did so by grabbing the back of her head in a grip tight enough to crush rocks, his calloused fingers digging into her thick skull.

"Oh me…oh _**my."**_

He didn't show it, but he was beyond what you would call 'furious'. With great strength, he buried her face into the concrete floor, pulling it back out by the hair and smashing it again.

Ryota looked on with shock as he practically saw the real Black Devil right in front of him as he violently pounded her face to the ground more and more until it was almost indistinguishable from a face at all. It was the look in his eyes, a cold fury that blurred the line between angry and just plain psychopathic.

Once he was done, Tsukune pulled out her head to check on it. The Sekitan vampiress' face was very much disfigured and beaten to a bloody pulp. Once he was satisfied, Tsukune viciously slammed it back down on the crater that had formed.

He limped towards the two women that were watching in the sidelines and knelt down to examine the damage. It was bad. The wound on her abdomen was leaking like a faucet.

Rebecca weakly reached out to cup his cheek while coughing out some blood. As she faded into unconsciousness, the hand slid down and smeared some of the crimson substance on his face. Kurumu looked at them with concern riddling her features.

"You can seal memories right?"

Kurumu only nodded her head in response.

"She's still alive. Go and take her to the hospital."

He stood up and scooped his pistols from the ground. "If you want your friend to live a normal life after all of this…" he walked towards Ryota and the unconscious old man "Then you'll know what to do."

Tsukune picked up his partner's nodachi and carried Ryota and the old man towards the area of the teleportation spell that he made earlier. Sparing one last glance at Kurumu, his expression softened to the _real_ Tsukune "Sayonara, Kurumu..."

"Are you really him!? Are you really Tsukune Aono!?"

He activated the spell and a blinding white light exploded from the ground and surrounded them.

"Yes. Yes I am."

*Cut to black*

_To be continued…_

* * *

**A/N: Please read. And if you like it, reviews are pretty much appreciated. Thanks guys. **

**So that was chapter 8 and probably the longest one that I've ever written. I took inspiration from watching to much Darker Than Black and it's unique 2-episode arcs. The music in the chapter was "Donten" by Does and "Meaningful" by The Rodeo Carburettor. ****The reason why I wrote this chapter so damn long was because I wanted to wrap this arc up as quick as possible, so please forgive me. **

**Also, I've been kinda in funk for the last few days, I don't know why...**_  
_


	9. A One Woman Army

As always, Tsukune's uniform is on my profile~!

* * *

A week ago…

It was dark. The only form of light you see is that one lamp that hangs in the middle of it all. Like an interrogation, only difference was that there were no tables and chairs for the 'good cop, bad cop' scenario. No. In the middle was a fat bearded man –the loan shark type- chewing on an equally fat imported cigar. "Have you brought the goods as promised?"

The clicking of combat boots soon echoed and it was nearing him.

A sudden chill of anxiety soon crept up his spine and armpits- in the form of sweat. Red orbs, feline at first glance, with the trademark slits for pupils shot out of the dark. Followed by what seemed like an assemblage of arms and a face floating against the black backdrop, dark clothing unable to form any outline.

It was a man. Young, twenty-something, longs bangs, long-ish brown hair, and lips pressed into a thin line, and red eyes that could burn holes in you if he wanted. The younger male soon joined the fat man in the makeshift spotlight and got a better grasp at his appearance.

He visibly tensed. God, that man was tall. "A-are you the one they sent from the Wong Family?" his eyes trailed to the briefcase the other man was carrying.

"Where's the artifact?"

Mr. Fat and Pudgy flicked his fingers and out came another human being: tall, and lanky- a butler of sorts. Cradled in his arms was an open briefcase, containing _something. _It was never shown but to put emphasis on its importance, it gleamed with a bright red.

"You've seen my goods. Now let me see yours."

Minding the rather blatant sexual innuendo, Mr. Black (due to his black clothing) hoisted up his briefcase and flicked it open. He showed the contents to the two. It was money, lots of it- the kind where you could buy an entire nation and still have enough for extra fries.

"Give me the artifact." Mr. Black silently demanded with a tone in his voice that contrasted to the look of pure loathing in his red eyes.

The shorter man seemed to have a penchant for flicking his fingers, with varying results. First: a butler came out. Second: bright red laser sights pieced through the dark, followed by an assortment of guns cocking. All of them aimed towards Mr. Black.

"We can't have you having any ideas now do we?" his American accent slipped into an Italian one "Give me the money."

He slammed the briefcase closed and shoved it towards the fat man. "Give it."

Mr. Pudgy flicked his fingers once more, ordering his butler to close the briefcase and retreat back into the darkness. "You will turn around and leave." Mr. Black sensed that it wasn't a hollow threat.

In the time that they spent, Mr. Black's expression was nothing less of stoic frigidity. The man stretched his fingers, the bones cracking back into place. What came next was something Mr. Fat and Pudgy deemed terrifying. Mr. Black closed his eyes, cracked a polite smile and nodded. There was something oh so cringe worthy about it despite being somewhat of an affable expression.

His face twisted into a sinister grin, nothing like giving someone an ironic death. He flicked his fingers and the light went out, leaving only thirty seconds of darkness, screams, and gunfire. Standing in the dark without knowing just what in God's name was going on, was probably the most emotionally jarring and psychologically scarring event Mr. Fat and Pudgy AKA. Vincenzo Sollozo ever went through. Why wasn't he dead? Why must a man of such dignity be forced to bawl his eyes out in fear?

He heard a flick of the fingers again. The light went back on and he was still frozen in place. Only thing that differed from before was that he was kneeling and had a rather large black pistol pointed at the back of his head.

"Still think you can steal from the Wong Family, Sollozo?"

He was cursing and trembling in fear. Mr. Black heard whimpers and pleas to spare his life.

It did nothing but to raise the man's contempt and loathing. As Vincenzo Sollozo closed his eyes tightly, he heard Mr. Black chanting -better yet- reciting something that could be heard as:

_Come shall the day  
When we will have our way…_

His eyes got wrenched back open in surprise and felt that dreaded feeling of mortal terror spread within him.

'_An eye for an eye…  
A tooth for a tooth…'  
As the ancestors say._

His heart was going about a mile a minute and could swear it was going to pop out of his chest. "Oh god…!"

_As false as we shepherds may be  
Come shall the time when you will see  
The hell you have brought upon yourself…_

Mr. Black ceremoniously cocked back the hammer. Sollozo could feel the cold barrel shift against the back of his head as it did so.

_**For messing with the Wong Family…**_

"OHGODNO!"

"Sayonara…"

The doors got kicked open and the police stormed in "This is the Police!" Just in time for them to witness the red fireworks to take place in the form of an execution.

BANG!

His head got blown off into red chunks and it earned the unbridled shock and disgust from the police.

As the lights seeped in, it provided a luminosity that police found even more disturbing. Numerous bodies lay scattered on the ground. Only one was left standing and he withdrew his weapon as the headless corpse fell limply on the ground.

"OPEN FIRE!"

"Ignore that order, gentlemen."

"But sir!" the others protested and a man in his early-50's entered the fray, eyes hiding behind his dark shades, and unlike some, he had a head full of hair "We came here to eliminate the Don of the Sollozo Crime Family and this young fellow here (referring to Mr. Black) did the job for us. Albeit in a much more…" He scanned the surroundings, setting his gaze on the bodies and the headless corpse below Mr. Black's feet "Messier way…Messy-yet- efficient! My name is Robert Takashima and I'm from the CIA, how 'bout you?"

Mr. Black gave them an apathetic stare and nonchalantly picked up both of the briefcases, dashing towards a window that was revealed once the room got lit up.

"Tsukune Aono?" he halted briefly, then proceeded in opening the window "Or would you rather prefer codename: "Ghoul"?" After he heard that, he just completely stopped in whatever he was doing and faced the CIA agent and the police.

"We're in search for some skilled operatives such as yourself, and I can't help but wonder as to why you joined the Wong Mafia. A place like that isn't for someone like you."

"…"

"Also, I couldn't help but get the feeling that you aren't totally loyal to them." That statement seemed to have pushed a little button. He was a keen man. "So, how 'bout it? Want to join the big leagues?"

For a moment the assassin stood still as if pondering on what his answer should be. And the only answer he gave was when he jumped out of the window.

One of the police officers readied his weapon "STOP!"

Robert lowered the man's gun "Don't."

"Should we go after him?"

"No…" The CIA agent strode over to Mr. Black's point of escape and stared out of the window "He'll be going after _us_. Soon. A crazy dog like that cannot stay loyal to one master forever…"

*Cut to black*

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter Nine: A One Woman Army

_Everything was so dark. I couldn't see a damn thing. My head was pounding like two jackhammers having sex. I feel so weak. Haven't felt being weak in a long time, not since that time with the cactus… Why is my internal monologue going such through unwanted memories? I tried to move, but somehow my body wasn't letting me. I couldn't feel my legs. Damn bitch, it was probably because of those damn palm strikes. And the water. Ohh, I hate water._

_Then I felt it, the sudden miraculous jolt that started to pull me back into consciousness, in the form of a stinging itch on my cheek! My eyes slowly rose from their humble rest. Something was blocking my vision. It was a face. I couldn't make it out at first because of all the blurriness that fogged up my sight. I focused all of my strength to make that image the clearest that I can. I thought it was someone else, but then found out that it was the last face that I wanted to see…_

It was Tsukune, slapping him back to reality "Oi, oi, Ryota! Ryota!"

"If you don't stop slapping my face, I will kick your man-berries till they sing one of Mika Nakashima's songs…" he groaned "That is… if I could use my legs…" He stirred in the bed and tried to lift up the two pillars of muscle, but soon backed down to the mattress' comfy embrace "OhnoIcan't…"

"Where are we again? And what the hell happened?" he looked around in a daze, his usually spiked up hair drooping down like Tsukune's.

"Back at HQ. Your lower half got paralyzed-"

"I can see that!"

"-by Ria and as soon as we teleported back here, you blacked out because of the water. Really, you vampires fail at the most innocent thing."

"Wait the water didn't affect- what do you mean 'you vampires'? Aren't you one yourself?"

Tsukune shrugged "I thought I was at first. Then through a bit of self discovery, I found that I'm not. I'm sort of one, but I still need some confirmation on the subject." Ryota opened his mouth as if to say something, but Tsukune raised his hand to halt him "And before you let your vampire pride take control of your higher thinking capabilities and mouth me off as being inferior, then don't. I don't have time to put up with something like that."

A distant memory came to mind. The one where he and Ura had a lover's spat and she called him as such. It hurt him to no end, got him demoralized, till the two lovers made up. Realizing that he was spacing out, he shook off those thoughts.

"Anyways, you should rest. I take it it's going to be at least an hour or so for you to regain back your strength, being a vampire and all." He turned around and headed towards the exit of the infirmary.

Noticing the distant look in his eyes earlier, Ryota couldn't help but to reassure the older man, much to his chagrin and pride "Hey, Tsukune." He took a peak over the shoulder at the call of his name. "Yes?"

"I wasn't going to call you inferior or something like that. You were just thinking things way too over."

Tsukune smiled and proceeded to open the door, but not before muttering a "Thanks" that Ryota obviously picked up with super-sensitive hearing.

"What was that?"

"Nah, it's nothing…"

\\\

Xi Lou-Hui was strapped to a machine where several other devices were strapped to his head. Fortunately he was still knocked-out, thanks to that Vulcan nerve pinch that Ryota performed on him. The machine, a "Memory Scanner" or MS, as they called it, well…obviously scanned memories. It was much more efficient than the usual torture and interrogation, and it had way less cleanup. That is, unless you're the sadistic kind. Technology these days… At least in the current timeline- which was about a few years in the future.

Tsukune on the other hand silently observed the process with little curiosity. Crossing his arms, he stood in a corner as a couple of the members monitored and operated the contraption. His uniform was slung over his shoulder, leaving him in his grey shirt that snugly wrapped around and contorted to his well-built physique.

Since it was sort of an off-duty moment, he laid Yin and Yang and his O-Tantos on to the nearest table. He rarely had time for himself. The most recent was two days ago, which to him, was a blessing. Five years of non-stop work, just so that he could take his mind-off of things. He realized how stupid the notion was. He should've have spent more time like this when he was given the chance.

Closing his eyes in peace without the slightest chance of getting mauled or shot at, sighing in relief without the threat of inhaling something toxic, laughing with friends without the suspicion of them being assassins that could easily tear him apart, and even loving someone without fearing that they might get killed because of him, were feelings so very foreign to him ever since he joined the damn syndicate. He didn't have a normal social life anymore. He was married to the job.

"Would you please tell me, what the hell happened back there that my future son-in-law ended up in the infirmary?" a voice spoke out that pulled him back.

A handsome man approached him. Tsukune deduced that he was in his late 20s, he had black hair with the same style as his, only that it was much spikier and that he wore that same black tunic that Ryota had, only that it was styled to look like a long coat. Wait…did he say "future son-in-law"?

"Who are you again?"

"Hideki Sugita" he held out his hand which Tsukune shook "Head of the Sugita Clan and head of security. Or was head of security. Now I'm back to being manager since Ta-kun is out of commission."

"Oh…" he went back to observing the other members and quickly shot his head back to Sugita "WHAT?!"

"Why must you react like that?"

Tsukune shook his head in belief "You're that old fat guy?! Who ate all those donuts while reading JUMP?! You looked like a grandpa back then! What the hell happened!?"

"Oh THAT. Well I am a grandpa and I have three grandkids. That seal was just a reflection of how old I really was."

The younger man's eyes bulged out "And how old are you?!"

"97 and I'm still funky fresh!"

_WHATTTT?! Even then, he still looked like a 62 year old. My life just lost all meaning. Sayonara, everyone! Sayonara!_

Noticing the somewhat dubious expression on Tsukune's face, the old man patted him on the shoulder "My boy…" he smiled confidently "Immortality starts at 20." His face twisted into a manic grin "Now tell me what the hell happened back there before I gouge your balls out."

Casting all the banter aside, Tsukune sighed in resignation "He got rained on and we both got attacked by a psychotic-bitch of a she-devil wearing a gimmicky eye patch with Nazi swastika on It." he fished out the USB on his pant pocket "And I found this."

"Wait…did you say she had an eye patch?" Sugita tensed.

"Yeah…"

The older man emitted a sudden air of dread and then of anger "Did she have black hair?" Tsukune nodded "Black dress?" he nodded again.

"Any catch-phrases or verbal tics?" he was nearly shouting the questions like it was an interrogation and it somewhat pressured Tsukune to be at the receiving end of the man's scrutinizing and hard gaze.

"She did actually…" he stood up straight "**Oh me, oh my…**"

"GODDAMNIT!"

BAM!

The wall blew up beside them; pieces of concrete flew in the air. Tsukune slightly trembled in fear; it was like a shockwave went pass him. He felt the deadly suffocation of the older man's killing intent. He looked over at the damage dealt on the wall by the older man: it was eviscerated. And he noticed the other members weren't even fazed nor were they paying attention to the rather large hole or crater in the wall. It must've been a common occurrence. But, to instill fear within him, he must definitely** not **cross this man, more so when he has nearly a century worth of experience.

"I must apologize about that rather violent explosion of my temper." He nonchalantly pulled his fist out of the wall, dusting it off and straightened his tunic "Her name is Ria Sekitan. I've had quite a few run-ins with her before, in my time as an assassin. She worked for Hitler back then, killed my squad and my brother when we were fighting the war, and then disappeared. I've been after her ever since."

It was weird listening to someone who looked like a model; speak like a disgruntled war vet "Why are you telling me all of this? Shouldn't you save the personal story for when we're fully acquainted?"

"I'm telling you this because you need to know that the woman you're facing isn't just some ordinary vampire. She's the fucking devil. A Black Devil. There's something about her that scares the living shit out of you; and you need to know how sadistic she could be when she's getting riled up."

Tsukune's expression shifted to its stoic ice "Anything else I need to know about her? Abilities?"

"She was the original Black Devil before Akuha Shuzen took up the mantle. But when she disappeared, Sekitan reclaimed the title. Aside from being a very skilled vampire in the Black Arts, she has other techniques- dimensional ones."

"Dimensional? Like the Jigen-Tou?"

Sugita shook his head "No, **not **like the Jigen-Tou, something worse than that. But rumor has it that anyone who comes after vanishes into thin air or freezes like a statue. I don't know; she never used one on me before. We always ended up fighting hand-to-hand."

He handed the USB to the older man. "Think you can scan the contents of this for me?" he grabbed his arsenal and headed towards the roof. But before that…

"Oh, and one more thing about our little adversary- no matter how many times I killed her before…" The look that he gave Tsukune was probably the most dead-serious expression he'd ever seen; not even the slightest curve of the lips. "She won't stay dead and she will never stay dead."

* * *

An hour later…

It already stopped raining.

Tsukune stood at the slippery edge of the building's rooftop. It didn't bother for the fact that one slight mistake would be the end of his life. No. He was too bothered to think about anything else. If that savage beating he inflicted on her via face smashing wasn't enough to kill her, then what could?

The moment the words hit him, a question ran continuously in his mind: _How do you kill the devil itself?_ His gut tightened up. There was something in it that he couldn't shake off, something cold and bad, metaphorically speaking. It was also in the air and the atmosphere. Not that it was just raining recently, but there was something brooding and tense about it, like all the joy in the word got sucked out. A small shiver of anticipation crawled up his spine in the most un-delightful of ways, his chest felt heavy and he was getting more paranoid than he already was. Truth is: it creeped him out.

A sudden static from his earpiece jolted him and almost became the cause of his death. It was Hideki "_Hey Aono-kun, I checked on the contents of the USB, nothing but mechanical reports and algorithms; a mention of an "Alucard's Strain" and "Jack Frost", but nothing else of importance. It doesn't even explain what an "Alucard's Strain" is._

_But, I think you should check this one out. It involves Fairy Tale."_

At the mention of the damned organization, his eyes went wide with shock at the realization that one of the most dangerous organizations could rise back from the dead. The only thing he could do now was bolt the fuck outta there and go check on just what-in-the-name of all things unholy is Fairy Tale doing even after its apparent explosive-demise.

The doors to the briefing room got kicked down, literally. "Where is it?!" Hideki motioned his hand towards the laptop. Then Tsukune spun it towards him rather violently. He started reading, all of his focus directed towards the screen.

"Project Hellstorm and Operation: Frost Core are owned by the Black Lotus Syndicate under the new management of…"

His grip tightened on the sides of the table, easily tearing splintered chunks out of the wood. The manager felt a demonic aura spiking up and it led to Tsukune with black vein-like markings spreading up the young lad's neck, which piqued his interest. Even more so was the seething fury in his crimson orbs.

"Neo-Fairy Tale…"

He slammed his fists on the table "Fuck!" he shot the older man a glare "Sugita-sama, get Fong on the video uplink right fucking NOW!" the urgency in his voice was enough to warrant a disapproval of any unneeded explanations.

\\\

Like in the batman cold open above, the room where Xi Lou-Hui was being detained was dark and dimly lit. Several guards patrolled outside the room to ensure nothing were to get in, alive. He was still strapped to the MS with him barely regaining consciousness.

The light above him was blinding. He looked around, tried to move his limbs, but they didn't budge. At the corner of his eye, he spotted something forming in the shadows. It was cloud of red smoke. Slowly and slowly it started to form a more humanoid shape.

He instantly remembered the face "Ria…" his voice hoarse and dry. There she was, not even the slightest scratch on her pale face.

* * *

"_Is there a reason why you woke me up so early in the morning?" _Fong said sleepily, with a hint of frustration in his voice. Under most circumstances, Tsukune would've laughed at seeing him holding a teddy bear. But this was no laughing matter. Not even the faintest hint of lightheartedness was enough to chisel away the dreadful ambiance.

"Damn it, Fong, they're back!"

He lazily wiped his eyes and stifled a yawn _"What? Who's back?"_

As if there wasn't enough frustration in the world "Fairy Tale **is **back! It has reformed."

The sort of comedic mood with the mafia don dissipated as quickly as he heard the name _"How so?"_

"The Black Lotus Syndicate is working with Neo-Fairy Tale" Sugita added "Or rather, working **for **Neo-Fairy Tale."

"_How about Xi Lou-Hui, what did you get out of him?" _now they were getting into business.

"We've-"Sugita got abruptly cut-off when Ryota stepped in the room with a data pad "Ta-kun!"

"The second half is currently being held by Eiko Shirasawa. She's a Yuki-Onna and one of the Snow Priestess' most trusted members of the High Council. I'm sending the data to you now." Ryota tapped away on the pad "There."

A picture taken from a safe distance of Emiko being accompanied by Ria appeared on one side of the screen so that Fong could share in the limelight. "Just so you know- the woman in black was the same one that attacked us earlier."

* * *

"Did you come here to rescue me?"

She moved in closer, an uncharacteristically apathetic expression plastered on her face, not the slightest trace of any of her usual sultry demeanor "No… I came here to eliminate you. You have already released too much information, even though you were not willing. The higher ups, nevertheless, felt that they needed to tie up some loose ends."

"I understand completely." He was firm on his decision, not that it was _his _anyways. The man didn't regret anything, not even stopping to think about the daughter he loved so much. He was just a loyal dog; nothing more, nothing less "But if you're going to do it…" he closed his eyes and lifted up his chin "Do it quickly and painlessly."

His request only got a smirk out of the Sekitan vampiress as she performed a couple of hand seals before placing her palm on the top of his bald head. Intricate markings soon etched themselves slowly and painfully against his skin until it covered him head-to-toe "What makes you think that I want to do that?"

The doors suddenly got kicked open. Numerous agents with katanas in hand pelted across the room. "Identify yourself!"

She shifted her attention to the _less _interesting agents that circled around her, who were ready to chop her head off "Oh look…" that is, if they can "Playtime…"

\\\

Blood flew in the air, lots of it. It splattered on the walls and ceilings, it puddle down on the floor. Everywhere you look, there was a thin coating of the thick red fluid. Wave after wave, Ria slaughtered the 'best of the best'; using her teleportation to deadly extremes along with her _other _skills.

Three agents caught her with their swords crossed at her neck. She disappeared in a puff of black smoke. She re-materialized below them, hand sharpened, and spun on the tip of her foot in one fluid motion and sliced them down into bloody stumps; and she did it all with a smile as she got bathed with their blood.

One agent had enough despite of their claims to being honor bound; he fires a Beretta at her. She lunges towards him and performs a mid-air somersault, landing firmly on her feet and behind him.

SLASH!

Blood gushed out like a faucet as he went down like a discarded rag-doll.

Five more guards entered the battle. There was no end to them.

Ria charged at them screaming like the warrior she was, with nothing but her skills and ingenuity. They all received her battle cry, raised their swords and stood their ground. Waiting for the moment to…

BAM!

They collided and were on equal footing. She ducked an incoming swing, scooping up a fallen katana on the ground.

CLANG! SLASH! They lock swords and circled around, eye to eye. SHINK! They separated. One agent managed to swiftly slash her back earning him violent retribution.

They kept swarming her and pushing her to a corner as she batted away their swords with the one she picked up. It was getting her riled up. Putting a little distance between her and the agents, she reached for her eye patch and shifted it to the side. They may have the skill, but they don't have the power of the Dark Arts.

They all dropped on the floor, twitching violently as they forced their heads to meet her gaze. It was as if they were paralyzed.

Three more agents entered the fray.

To prove a point that they weren't just limited to swords, multiple piano wires wrapped around her limbs, completely immobilizing her even with her enormous strength.

The first one lunged and struck his blade deep in her chest. In a near blur, the second one drew his sword from his back scabbard and stabbed her directly in the back of the head. She was still alive. Putting on the finishing touches, the third one channeled his youki in deadly amounts across the wires and ended up frying her to oblivion via electrocution. And with one mighty tug…

SPLAT!

Her charred and dismembered remains dropped on the ground.

The trio quickly ran towards their fallen comrades, trying to aid as many of them as possible. They thought it was all over, releasing sighs of relief on a job well done.

-_Hollow Men- Maon Kurosaki-_

Ominous laughter floated in the air…

They turned their heads around. The separated arms and legs were quivering in place as the left over blood latched on to them and reattached themselves back to the limbless stump of a torso in a gory display.

In a matter of seconds, Ria was up and about, casually straightening out her hair.

"Oh me, oh my…you do know that children like yourselves are at least a million years too early to be laying their hands on me, right?"

As the massacre went on in the background, the markings on the unconscious Xi Lou-Hui's body radiated with a bright red light, like the cracks on the ground inside a volcano. Ever so slowly filling up the gashes with the light until it reached the top of his head.

* * *

The meeting got pulled into an abrupt halt when one of the agents relayed the current situation to the manager "_Sugita-sama! We're under attack!"_

"How many!?"

"_Only one sir!"_

The three looked at one another with shocked stares. No words were needed to be said. They bolted out the door, but not before arming themselves up; 'Yin and Yang' for Tsukune, a long-ass Nodachi for Ryota and dual Katanas for Hideki.

In their state of emergency, they accidentally left the uplink still connected to Fong as he watched the scene unfold with tense anticipation.

* * *

(Slow mo) The lights reached the top and connected to an elaborately drawn pentagram that branched off to the rest of the markings.

The whole face of the building exploded in grand splendor, bathing the area in its reddish glow like it came out straight from hell and sent an eruption of flames and debris flying across the street, raining on top of the passing cars.

The connection turned into static and Fong stood up in his chair in a bout of shock and disbelief, then of urgency. He looked over to his undead sister "Get me a plane to Tokyo NOW!"

"But-"

"**NOW!" **He didn't give her time to answer back.

\\\

-_Music end-_

It was four 'o clock in the morning. Swirls of white cloud hung above, as the hour tinted the skies with indigo and a slight touch of orange. It was a beautiful sight indeed.

Not so much for the scenery below.

Amongst a sea of flames and debris, Tsukune woke up, covered in blood and grime. Just the slightest move would bring him an agonizing amount of pain. His leg was pinned to the ground by a large piece of concrete with rebars sticking out of it.

In the corner of his eyes, he spotted an unconscious Ryota, sword held firmly in his hand while the lower half of his body got buried in a pile of rubble. He tried to reach out to his comrade only to be held back by the god-awful torture of his skewered leg.

A black silhouette emerged from the destruction, a spectre roaming around the ruins of a battlefield. At least, that's what he thought. He peered through the smoke and the blazing inferno. Then it him straight him in family jewels: it had womanly curves; and it spotted him with its one red eye. Dawning on him was a sudden realization that it wasn't a ghost, it was a devil. A black devil.

A sudden murderous intent boiled up inside him. He needed to get out of there, fast. Gritting his teeth and preparing for the worst, he wrapped his hands around the concrete that held him down. He heaved the large piece of rubble, the pain was unbearable. He could feel the ribbed edges of the rebar grinding along the meat and bones of his thigh. A pained grunt escaped his mouth that soon grew into a savage roar once the tip was almost revealed. He bit down hard as he pulled out the metal and tossed the concrete to the side, the blood on his leg gushing out by the gallons.

He leaned back a little and was spouting labored breaths, pulling out his pistols and used them as substitute crutches. Once he was back on his feet, only one thing was left for him to do: kill the bitch.

Fueled by nothing more than adrenaline and pure rage, he fired his pistols as he limply rushed towards her.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Chunks of her shoulders got blown clean off. Bang! There was a gaping hole in her stomach. She was just standing still, as if she wanted to be hit.

Tsukune closed his left eye and aimed Yin for a head shot. She gave him a smile from the view of the iron sights. Click! No more ammo. He aimed Yang. Click! He was empty.

His youki got dried out before he even went in to use it. "**If you don't have your sword, use your guns. If you don't have your guns, use your knife. If you don't have any of those; use your hands, feet, and teeth. Use anything that your bloody limbs could grab and grant you the advantage. If your enemy is going to take your life, at least make them pay for it dearly."**

An O-tanto got flung straight through her neck. His vampiric instincts took control of his body and was searching for nothing more than gruesome bloodshed. With the Shinso blood overriding his better judgement and negating his sense of pain, he dragged his injured leg at full pelt and moved in for the kill.

Ria ripped off her eye patch. The Sclera was pure black, the iris was in a deep shade of crimson, and the pupil was styled into a cross.

_Petrification..._

Tsukune skidded to a halt on the ground just below her feet, seemingly pulled out of his berserker rage. His body was twitching and in pain. He couldn't move at all. It was like there was a heavy force pushing down on him and squeezing out all the air in his lungs.

A bloody knife dropped in his line of sight and he felt warm breaths on his ear.

"Since you're cute and all, I'll give you a warning: don't come after me." she sensually licked his ear "It would be a waste to kill someone as good-looking as yourself."

Despite being paralyzed, he still cringed at her risque attitude. Slowly and forcibly, he shakily turned his head towards her. What he got was something even more disgusting. Ria gave him a small kiss on the lips. A straight line for lips turned into a rabid assortment of fangs once she pulled away.

SPLAT!

(Slow mo) Her arms got chopped off from the shoulders as they flew in the air with a trail of blood.

"We meet again, Sekitan Ria!" It was the Tokyo branch's manager, coming in to save the day. Or at least buy more time till the cavalry arrives.

Much to his surprise, the arms didn't fall down on the ground. They were floating mid-air, with the trail of blood quivering like there was zero gravity, before getting promptly slurped back to the stumps to reattach themselves. She didn't earn the title of "Black Devil" for nothing. "Oh me, oh my, it's you again. Still the pretty boy as always." the tone in her voice filled with sarcasm "Haven't you noticed that I'm on the final release of my seal?"

She smirked at his contempt and revulsion towards her.

"Tell me, what was your family creed again? 'An eye for an eye'? How' bout 'An arm for arm'?"

Even with the warning she gave, he didn't have the time to react as the vampiress sliced his left arm off and quickly flung him to a mountain of rubble with a palm strike. "Even though vampires look like they never age. Their skills don't. You were much stronger than that." she looked over to Tsukune as he futilely reached for the older man's buried form. "Do you think you're a shounen protagonist and that you could defeat me with just friendship and willpower? Keep dreaming. If an entire branch of vampires couldn't take me on, could you?" she disappeared into a cloud of red smoke "Ciao~!"

\\\

A fireman nudged his companion and nodded towards a statue-like figure standing in the midst of devastation. It was Tsukune. Leg healed and a cancer stick between his lips. His eyes were hollow as he stared off into the distance.

All of it happened so fast. Everything was blurry. The smoldering blackness from the smoke floated upwards to the sky as they were put out by the firemen. Death and destruction surrounded him as some of the medics fished out the remains of the Wong Mafia's Tokyo branch. Members, alive and dead, were being carried off into numerous helicopters for deportment back to the Youkai world. His life was filled with the dual combo of the D's, it happened all the time, he had gotten used to it. Yet why then had he only felt the gravity of the situation and sensed more impeding destruction compared to other missions he partook?

A news camera swerves its direction from the ruined building to the black figure standing in the middle of it.

Clad in a black mandarin long coat with his torso wrapped in a sarashi, Fong walks up to him, a look of pure rage behind his otherwise stoic expression. Out of 95 members, only 15 survived- all of them assigned to different posts around the country. Ria claimed 22 lives and the rest, from the explosion.

Tsukune kept his gaze locked to the floor "How's Ryota and Hideki-sama?"

"Sugita lost an arm that will probably never grow back and Ryota is fine, a little shaken and a couple of scrapes, but nonetheless fine."

He kneels down in front of the mafia don with one knee, his glove laden hand spread against the smoldering debris. "Your orders, sir?"

"Change of plans, Errand Boy. Forget the amulet." he walks to another direction, calmly and proffesionally.

"Kill them. Kill all of them."

*Cut to black*

_-Roppongi Arc End-_

* * *

**A/N: Hot damn! That's one long chapter! The longest one yet! Please review the story if you like it, even constructive critism is welcome -not to mention- opinions!**

**The song played in the carnage was "Hollow Men" by Maon Kurosaki (Yeah, I watch H.O.T.D.). The Frost Core arc starts next chapter. *Side note: When Ria teleports to long distances, it appears as red smoke, while black is when she goes Night Crawler.**

**The quote when Tsukune was going on his berserker rage was from "13 assassins"(one of the best films ever made) with a little modifications.**

**Thanks for reading, the reviews and the faves! Hope you guys like it! Ciao~!**


	10. A Cold Meeting

_Kill them. Kill all of them. We'll start off with Shirasawa; and if possible, find out just what the hell_ _is** Operation: Frost Core.**_

* * *

AFTER A FAIRY TALE

Chapter Ten: A Cold Meeting

"If I don't call it in in two days, you know what to do. Send in the cavalry and come get me."

"Much obliged. You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be..."

Ryota hit the controls for depressurization. Motorized and mechanical bellows cut through the dark. A thin line of light appeared below them that soon widened up into bomb bay doors. Cold wind and hale rushed in on the otherwise warm belly of the jet .

Their eyes meet, both of them knew that this was the point of no return. Ryota nods for the go. Tsukune stood at the lip of the opening with his back facing it, a lopsided grin painted on his face; bursting out an air of sleazy confidence and solidifying his position as a daredevil.

He gave the younger male a salute, before spreading out his arms and dropping his foot to complete the descent. He entered a violent free-fall like a bullet shooting through the sky, shaking violently at terminal velocity. If it weren't for the sharp pieces of hale and the rather uncomfortable coldness, he would've thought of it exhilarating as the wind blew past him with a deafening roar.

As he plummeted from the sky, he glued his arms to his sides and twisted his body so that he would be facing the point of landing. The frosty mist cleared and there it was: the snow village. He stabilized once he reached past an ample amount of distance from the ground and angled his arms and feet for control, guiding himself and then pulling out his chute, jerking him hard upward.

The strong gale was blowing him past the landing point. 20 ft. from the ground, he pulls out his tanto and slices the strings, letting the chute get carried away. Once he touched the ground, he rolled on the snow to minimize the impact and on to a kneeling position with one knee.

He stood up from his pose and dusted off the snow. 3 kliks away from his point of attack? It was going to be a long walk.

\\\

Years could do wonders to anyone. Even to a civilization. That's what happened to the Snow Village after a seven year time skip. At Fairy Tale's evaporation seemingly into nothingness, the land of the Yuki-Onna had a jolt in its birth rates.

What was once a dwindling species of Yokai, was now an ecological powerhouse that rose up to the ranks; from a few thousand, to a population almost reaching the six digits. At it's core, it was still the humble village we all knew and loved that contained the snow women that we knew and loved, only this time there were more of them. But...

With increasing numbers comes increasingly inflated egos.

It was time for the Snow Priestess to step down from her throne and hand over her power. With that sudden revelation, uncharacteristic as it may be; numerous propositions, requests, pleas, contests and even battles took place for a shot at the top. Naturally, the Snow Priestess was very displeased with all of the violence, so with a little help from the high council, they came to a conclusion that they must all settle their political affairs with the most sanest way possible: The voting system.

Fast forward and we wound up at the election. The winner, by a land slide, was Eiko Shirasawa; who was also a double agent for the Black Lotus. Don't get her wrong, she loved the people- she was just too much of a nationalist.

And now it was time for the event that every 17 year-old Yuki-Onna dreamed about or dreaded: The Coming Of Age Ceremony. Where they either get hitched off to some complete stranger, or whisk away an unsuspecting man who ventured too far into their land. Shirasawa was tasked to collect the snow flowers, voluntarily, so that she could gain even more support for her endeavors.

With her going on that little trip, she would make a rather excellently exposed sitting duck for a rather large .50 caliber bullet from someone who was practically the most pissed off person in the entire galaxy, that even hell would not be able to help itself from freezing up.

\\\

Trudging along the cold and unforgiving conditions of what he thought as a barren wasteland, Tsukune held his trademark cool expression (no pun intended) that he was fond of doing even under stress such as his current mission. There was nothing really to complain about. He was suffering so that he could avenge all the lives that were lost in the massacre that Black Lotus and Neo-Fairy Tale committed on the entire Tokyo branch.

Fong was hit the hardest. He had never lost so many people on his watch, being a first timer and all. After calling it a day, he broke down in front of Tsukune in a fit of murderous rage and tears, smashing anything that his fist could smash into. It was only after an hour or so, with the help of Ling-Ling, that he managed ease down and reflect on what he had done. With much supposition on Tsukune's part, the Wong Mafia don would never be the same after all of this.

Just the thought of that bitch's smug smile was enough to make his blood boil, and enough to melt the snow in vicinity. Another reason for his participation on the mission: Pride. It was on the line. The way she belittled him and all the other ones that she killed. He would make her pay, even if it meant burning everything down to the fucking ground. Once he gets his hands on her neck, he'll rip it off slowly, savoring the warmth of her blood running down his calloused fingers, every moment of it. He would let the beast take control. She deserved that much.

"**Once her eyes goes dead, the hell I'll send her to will seem like heaven after what I've done to her." **Colder than even Absolute Zero, or Death's grip itself. The Klingons were right, revenge was a dish best served cold, along with her head. No redemption. No mercy. No Hesitation. Slow, hard and painful. That's her fate. And he'll be damned if it doesn't end up that way.

Putting aside his psychopathic means of vengeance, lets focus on the mission's more technical aspects. He was to be dropped 3 kliks from the garden of the snow flowers. Once there, he will set up camp for at least a day, just until the target has entered within range. A whole convoy of Shirawasa's posse, consisting of Black Lotus agents, would harvest as much of the flowers as they can. That's where the massacre begins.

To make a point that his black uniform wasn't just a fashion statement, it provided him with an insulating effect of 3 winter jackets when needed, as Fong put it. Sadly, the garment wasn't available in white; and basically going on an assassination against a white backdrop would really make him stand out, making the whole mission suicidal. So, Fong gave him a little trinket to help him become practically a chameleon: a pager of sorts, strapped on his belt. With three hits of the buttons, it could change his clothes to blend in with the background. Only the clothes.

Adding to his collection of diverse weaponry was a Barret M82 semi-automatic sniper rifle slung on his back, a gun Tohou Fuhai affectionately called "Xing". It sported a winter camo, and like his other guns, "Yin and Yang", it had all the intricate markings; at the tip of the barrel was a suppressor, and the ammunition it fired was .50 caliber explosive rounds powered by youki.

He came across yet another rock face, the third one. He pulled out his knives and started planting them on the snow covered rocks. It seemed that they were made of Adamantium as he vigorously climbed his way to the top, using the knives as hooks. He slammed the knife of his right hand on its edge and hoisted himself up. There, he encountered yet another obstacle to overcome: A snow-filled jungle; and without proper equipment, you can be hell as sure that you'll get lost in the labyrinth.

He brandished his sniper rifle and took point. Cautiously and quietly darting across the field of trees and dense growth covered with a thick layer of snow. Taking cover behind a tree, back facing it, he racked the bolt of the weapon and took aim, scouting out the area with his scope before moving again to another. Tsukune closed his eyes, this time using his youki sensor. Nothing. It was clean and he decided to trek on further. The way he glided through the jungle: militaristic, a soldier on a one-man mission.

Coming down a steep hill was yet another jungle to be reckoned with. A map was useless at this point. With superhuman reflexes, he climbed up a tree at a blinding speed, jumping on to the branches, until he was at the top. Like a spec of ink a against a sea of white sheets, he stood on the top with his foot on it tips as his uniform billowed wildly against the raging snow storm. Zooming on his scope and enhance vampiric senses, he spotted the kill zone, grinning wickedly as he jumped down and disappeared below.

\\\

The Snow Prietess jolted awake from her unintentional dozing off. She was at the main hall, sitting on her throne of ice. A knowing smile found its way to her lips. She must be getting old. Through the bleakest of times had she sat on that chair, nobly and dignified. A place and a position she had known all her life. Polishing the ice on her throne one last time and the getting used to the idea of saying her farewells to it. It was hard letting go, but as an omnipotent being once said "All good things must come to an end..."

It wasn't just her position that was coming to an end, but also her life. She spent her last remaining days bed-ridden and kept out of the loop by Black Lotus agent who were masquerading as council members, that allowed them to create a base directly below her radar. The elder snow woman requested to sit on her metaphorical birthplace just one last time.

"At least the fate of the Snow Women would be in good hands." Oh, how wrong she was.

A thing that's been bothering her recently was Jack Frost, the eponymous white specter that resided within her as the source of her powers. Lately, he's been rather volatile. Sometimes popping back out into the open without even saying anything beyond his cryptic explanations.

One night when she was sleeping, he appeared before her with a message: "**A storm is coming...**" She didn't how to summon up the demon, because it only appears when it pleases; and then one night after a meeting with the high council, he finally said something intelligible:** "Something is blocking my vision of the future..."**

Everything about it reeked of 'bad'.

* * *

Back at the Shirayuki household, what started out as a normal and peaceful conversation about her plans for marriage turned into something of a verbal war between mother and daughter. Just one more push was all that was needed for the pair to kill each other via strangulation. It all started with Tsurara wanting grand-kids, since she was getting old herself. Everything went to hell after that. The father, on the other hand watched the argument like a Brit watching football.

Mizore never had it good. She said it once- said that she would love and follow him wherever he would go. But as time flew by, those ripe feelings back then turned somewhat bitter. Mizore was a biological Christmas cake. It was only a matter of time till her cycle would come to an end. She defied the tradition and never married anyone. The wish she had of seeing little Mizores and little Tsukunes running around the house was left unfulfilled. Most of all, she was 25 and still single, working as a business woman in the Ayashi home world.

Topping on the 1# spot on her countdown of misfortunes was Tsukune's abrasive treatment of her and their friends. And now they want to marry her off to someone else because her cycle will end in two years. Geez, give the poor woman a break.

"How old do you think I am?! Damn it, I'm 25 already!" BAM! She kicked down the screen doors and stormed outside. Her parents soon followed.

"Mizore! Where do you think you're going?!"

Tsurara was going to run after her before being promptly halted by her husband. He told her that they just needed to let her cool herself off, no pun intended.

She stomped on the snow and ran for it "Somewhere far away from here!"

\\\

The scene fast cuts to bipods being planted on the snow. It was already daybreak when he arrive at the field. Perched just behind the bushes from a small cliff's edge just above the ocean of flowers in a prone position, Tsukune chambers in a round as he looked through the scope.

With an estimated height of 60 ft from the ground, it was the perfect spot for sniping, he even wondered if the place was made for that sort of job. His uniform was already blended in. And just to avoid being exposed by his brown hair, he wore a white beanie over his head.

He spoke through his earpiece "Fong, I'm in position. They're still not here by the way."

Static...

_"Good. Of course they're not there, tomorrow afternoon's the harvesting. And just a reminder: they may look like snow women, they may even _be_ snow women; but do not forget that they are still members of Black Lotus. Don't get too soft now. You're mission objective is as clear as day: search and destroy. Do not let any single one get out of there alive."_

Tsukune paused to think for a moment. Behind his apathetic gaze of pure ice (no pun intended), was of reluctance. A reluctance born from his mother's teachings that he should be nice to people of the opposite sex. Another thing factor in was his former lover. He had no problems _hurting _them, in both physically and mentally, which of course meant relationships, but if he killed even just one, then he'd be guilt tripping for over a week. He was a man, of course he'd have a sliver of chivalry, no, perhaps even an entire plate of it. "Understood..."

Except for maybe when they deserve it, which will earn them every bit as prejudice he gives to any of his victims. Like what he'll do to that _other _woman.

_"Keep me posted." _And with that, the connection was cut off. He withdrew from his position and hung back a little, leaning on a small boulder that was covered with snow. Yet again, he was given a time for himself. He took out a flask of whiskey from his satchel which was, miraculously, still not frozen and took a swig of it, just to ease his nerves.

Somehow, the universe and faith were playing with him. They were driving him more and more into a corner and into missions that forcibly reminded him of his past. First, it was Kurumu; now, Mizore. Who's next Ruby and Yukari? No doubt there's gonna be a Moka in that list. Just how the hell did he end up in this mess?

He halfheartedly took a glance on the beautifully pristine field of snow whites. His mind instantly re-winded back to when his Yuki-Onna friend brought him there to practically rape him. And then Fairy Tale came along. It was just getting vexatious. Just about every memory, just about fucking everywhere, Fairy Tale was in it and it managed to crawl up his ass. Basically, his new life was about him running away from the looming shadow of -you guessed it- Fairy Tale.

He diverted his gaze upwards to the dimming sky. A tinted beauty it was, an alien mix of blue and orange, the yellow light gently dissipating as the seconds pass. Green luminescent swirls from the aurora hung above with a myriad stream of stars, and an occasional falling star or two.

There was something so ethereal with it that he just couldn't describe. He slowly closed his eyes, letting the cool breeze blow past him. Drops of snow lightly landed on his face, just below the eyes and melted with the little warmth he had left, streaming down his cheeks like tears. Sleep engulfed him, occasionally taking a break from reality wasn't so bad after all.

\\\

"I never should've went on this damn vacation! And now I think I'm lost in the woods!" Mizore complained, after tripping on a fallen branch. Really, she spent almost half of her life in that place and she gets lost? It was night and she was getting paranoid, only having the stars to guide her. And they did, just not to the place she was expecting.

A wave of nostalgia and memories washed over her as she stood on a cliff with the field of snow whites just below her- memories that she didn't want. Not anymore anyways. When was that...? Nine years ago? The time when she betted it all and came out empty handed? Yes, that was it.

Clad in a white kimono, the snow woman sat just by the edge of the cliff and let her mind drift off. She'll find her way back in the morning. From a distant stalker girl to a drop-dead gorgeous _and _elegant snow maiden, who would've thunk it? Gone were those juvenile curves and replacing them were those of a model's. She could have any man she wanted, too bad the only one she did want was probably halfway across the entire continent doing god-knows-what.

Then she heard some light snores...

She diverted her gaze. Well speak of the devil. It was him, sleeping uncomfortably on a boulder, arms crossed, one leg outstretched while the keeping the other one close. A flask of whiskey on his right, a light stubble on his jaw that emitted an air of 'ruggedly sexy' and a somewhat pained expression on his face. What caught her attention was his militaristic get-up and the rather large sniper rifle beside him that was propped up on the boulder.

There they were again, in the land of snow whites. This time, he hadn't held on to notebooks or newspapers, but guns and alcohol. Not that gentle smile or that warmth of his effervescence, but a scowl and an ice cold expression. She walked in closer, kneeling down beside him "What happened to you, Tsukune?"

She noticed that he was shivering. Giving in to her inner-most desires, she gently closed the gap between them and slowly snaked her arms around him in a warm embrace that contrasted to her cold nature. He reacted violently at first, stirring in defiance, as if on instinct; but as she tightened her grip only then did he ease down and stopped quivering. He melted in to the embrace, feeling the warmth that he long had forgotten.

His breathing returned to normal. She felt something heavy on her shoulder and saw that he unconsciously rested his head on it. She pulled him in closer and let the softness and warmth of her love take over as she allowed herself to drift into a slumber in the most unlikely of places.

\\\

It was dark, but the full moon was out, and the flowers sort of reflected its light, making them appear as if they were glowing.

As his consciousness slowly seeped back in, he never felt more comfortable in his life. Then reality struck him hard. Something soft and warm was pressing over him in a tight embrace. His eyes shot up. Goddamnit! How could he have been so careless?!

He wrenched himself off and put some distance, pulling out Yin at the same time. With a definite scowl on his face, he peered through the dark to see just who the intruder was. Well he be damned. Fate did it again, that slimy bastard.

It was Mizore, with an adorably cute expression on her face, curled up into a ball as sleep hovered over her. Seeing that she posed no threat, his serious demeanor shifted into a softer one, but not enough to chisel the stone out from his face. He holstered the weapon and leaned down, brushing a few strand of her purple hair. Indeed she grew up and filled out.

He couldn't just leave her there. An idea came to mind, as stupid it is as he may care to admit. Damn his sense of nobility for picking the greatest of times for returning. At least it was absent in Roppongi!

Slowly, he lifted her off the ground and slung her over his shoulder. He asked himself: "Just what the hell am I doing?" His actions just contradicted everything that he had done to Kurumu.

Come what may, he guessed. He'll just return in the morning. If he could find his way back, and that's a pretty big IF. So as he ran, he ripped off a chunk from every tree that he passed. He just hoped that he still remembered her house, which had his approximate visitation of like what, 1 time?

* * *

He entered the village, quickly and quietly, hiding in the shadows and avoiding the patrolling lady-guards. Was this woman a heavy sleeper or what? He went through all that rough terrain and she didn't even stir or make a sound.

Back at the Shirayuki household, Tsurara closed the book she was reading and set it on the nightstand, while her husband slept quietly. Like any other doting parent, she was getting really worried that her one and only daughter, despite being an adult, was still not home. She couldn't help it, she was a mother after all.

Going back to their argument earlier, an incessant nagging echoed out at the back of her mind that kept telling her that she was a big girl now, and that she can live the way she wanted; and that sudden urge for wanting grand-kids was stemmed from having a mid-life crisis.

She got out of bed, and opted for a more calming method rather than reading books: fresh air.

Well he be damned...again! To think that he still remembered that darn place after all those years. That was the place, right? He gingerly placed her just beside the screen door that she kicked down earlier. _Please let this be her house... _The doors slid open and Tsurara came out.

CLICK!

A cold steel barrel pressed against the Yuki-onna's forehead. She instantly froze, metaphorically; eyeing her unknown assailant. A clearer look was all she needed before her eyes went wide with the realization "T-Tsukune-kun?"

Burning red eyes met her icy blue orbs. He raised his index finger up to his lips "Shhhhhhhh..." as slowly he backed away and disappeared into the night. A minute or so after she got a check on reality did she notice the sleeping woman on her porch.

\\\

After spending half-an-hour of jumping across rooftops and evading the guards, he finally made it back, thanks to the markers he made; and no, not THAT kind of markers. Dusk was fast approaching as the sky above bled with the darkest shades of blue. He set up some minuscule motion sensors along the tree line, so that whenever an incoming bogie was up, he would know.

He really built up a sweat due to his fast sprint, and his uniform didn't help either. Only problem was, if he did take his uniform off, he'll freeze to death; if he doesn't take it off, well then he'd be just unceremoniously sticky with sweat. He chose the latter.

The pseudo-vampire scouted out the field, at the corner of his eyes, he saw movement. 2 military trucks and a pick-up van loaded with crates rolled over at the far side of it. Dangerous purple haired vixens armed to the teeth, with machine guns, soon exited the carriers in coordination;all of them snow women, and all of them wearing winter camo gear. No sign of Ria.

A limo came late to the party.

Tapping the magazine filled with 10 meaty .50 caliber rounds before shoving it back, he quickly readied himself and got into a prone position. Through his scope, he spotted the target exiting her vehicle.

He pressed on his comm "Fong, something's not right... they all came to early." He racked the slide and removed his glove, licking his finger to gouge out where the wind was heading. There was none.

_"It doesn't change anything. Search and destroy. **Eliminate with extreme prejudice.**"_

There was still no Ria, guess he had to make due with the one's he got "Roger that."

The armed snow women lined up horizontally in front of the trucks and saluted Eiko as she passed them. Stoic faces that could rival his, emotionless and deadly- these gals were the real deal; doing nothing unless ordered to. He adjusted the scope of his rifle and zoomed in on their insignias. Loyal military bitches: The Black Lotus Assault Force. At least he didn't have to regret blowing off their heads.

Taking full advantage as a creature of the night, he used his enhanced vision at its full potential.

They dispersed across the field, baskets in hand. Tsukune snickered; all that deadly professionalism does not make a good combination with flower picking.

He moved his thumb over to the safety and flicked it down. The main target was all alone. Her head came up at the center of the scope as she picked up some flowers herself. No need to rush. Steady the breathing. Wait until a clean shot has been offered. A drop of sweat trickled down his temple as his finger itched toward the trigger. This was it. As payment for all of the lives lost, he will take hers.

"Target locked. Safeties off."

She stood up and straightened her back. "Sayonara..."

The alarm from the motion sensors rung in his ear, followed by a bestial roar coming from behind him. Oh shit... A creature's large shadow eclipsed over him. He sprung up from ground and faced the beast: a Yeti. Almost immediately, the thing swiped its large fist to his face, blocking it with his weapon in a split second. (Slow mo) The impact sent him flying over the cliff's edge. In mid-air, he aimed the rifle and pulled the trigger. Bang! The Yeti's head got completely blown off.

A suppressor was not enough. The shot alerted the women to his position. He landed squarely on a pile of snow. Still, it made him feel almost every bone in his body break. He clutched his rib and howled in pain. A spike went up his Youki radar; they were closing in on him, fast! With herculean effort, he pushed himself up despite the teeth grinding agony.

They opened fire. As much as he wanted to kill them, he needed to get out of there and give Fong a sit-rep. He strafed to the left, towards the woods and aimed his rifle. Doesn't mean he can't try, right?

Bang! One got blown in half. Bang! A head exploded. Bang! An arm got blown off. Bang! The gap between two lady mooks erupted with shrapnel. He kept firing until the magazine was dry.

The fire fight could be heard across the snow village as the occupants came out of their houses with curiosity.

A little more and he was out of there, though it was taking forever! His camouflage device was burned to a crisp and he was exposed like shit. Tsukune slung back the rifle and swiftly pulled out his pistols. Explosive rounds mowed them down as they recklessly kept charging at him. Just as he was nearing the tree line, a stray bullet shot through his shoulder. The collision sent him off balance and he violently tumbled down the hill.

Using the same tactic as before, he used the pistols as hooks to halt his uncontrollable slide. The mooks followed him down and relentlessly delivered a rain bullets on him as he fired in return.

He ran like hell itself was on his heels, putting some pressure on his bleeding shoulder by clutching it. He cursed out loud as he unintentionally left a thin trail of his blood. Taking cover behind a boulder, he quickly reloaded the rifle the fastest he could, taking a peek behind every 3 seconds or so. "Fong, my position is compromised! I repeat my position is compromised!"

No reply...

"Shit!" he took another peek. Bang! Tsukune avoided most of the barrage of gunfire and let out a gasp when one bullet scraped his temple. Sweat and blood trickled down the side of his face as he let out an annoyed grunt. "They have a fucking sniper!"

The snow women were converging in on his location while the sniper covered them from the ridge. He dashed towards the limitless amount of trees, using it as an advantage against the sniper; splinters would embed themselves on his skin as she briskly fired away with her Dragunov.

He took cover behind a tree as the unnamed sniper emptied the magazine, but quickly reloaded. Suddenly, Tsukune rolled to the side, the black pistol 'Yang' aimed at her with one hand. She leveled the rifle again. They stared each other down. Her finger tightened on the trigger as was his. Red eyes flared up and he cracked a wicked grin. An excellent sniper she may be, a fucking vampiric assassin she was not.

In a moment of silence, everything slowed down- the drop of his sweat, snow flakes gently falling and merging with the sea of white, a stray leaf blowing against the wind, all of it.

BANG! Both of them fired their weapons. The 7.62 round exited the barrel of her gun in a burst of flames, ripping through the air and breaking the sound barrier. A bullet with intricately engrave markings came out of his in a purple explosion of hell fire.

The bullets collided, but his' was far more powerful than an ordinary one. It actually pushed back the larger round without even stopping! Ripples of shock overcame her, with the snow woman's face being the perfect visualization of "Oh shi-"

Splat!

The usual end for anything that the bullet hits was an exploding head. Her body dropped dead on the snow. Once he was satisfied, he took off again; this time, not stopping for anything else.

* * *

Mizore slowly wrenched her eyes open from her peaceful rest, blurriness dancing around the corners of her vision. She realized that she was back in her room. How? Was it all a dream?

It was most certainly not. She was there and Tsukune was there. She even held him tightly against her body and felt every single sensation of it.

After calming herself down, the snow woman re-assessed her situation and ran a series of multiple simulations and theories in her head before jumping out of the futon so that she could find out where her temporary love interest was.

* * *

It was a dead end.

Capture was inevitable; even worse: death. Sighing in resignation, he slowly closed his eyes and smiled graciously in defeat. Tsukune dropped on his knees and raised his arms, the weapons he once held, scattered on the snow. He could hear them getting closer and closer. If he was in top condition, in which he was _not,_ he would've fought them to the death.

Two daggers of ice pierced his already wounded shoulder without him even flinching. Cold steel pressed against the back of his head, a fitting and ironic demise to the Wong Mafia's "Errand Boy." It was a good life.

_A promise to keep, for souls that shall weep. No regrets. No heartbreaks. I shall be the Wong family's sword till **death**. _

"Wait!" his saving grace? "Take him in for interrogation." Guess not. It was just what he needed. They should've just killed him for all the good it will do to this sinful earth.

\\\

The house was empty for some reason. There was no sign of her parents. It was too quiet. She felt a slight trembling in the ground. Earthquake? No. More like footsteps. As she got closer and closer to the door, she heard it- the sound of a crowd forming and gossiping, their combined voices melding together in a sea of whispers.

She went outside just to see what the commotion was about. Mizore pushed through the crowd and asked the nearest bystander "What's going on?"

"Word is that someone tried to kill the newly elected Snow Priestess, and that they captured him."

On a death march like display, Eiko Shirasawa and her posse hauled Tsukune along while he had his hands tied behind his back, with no trace of defiance on his features at all. The crowd of women cheered. Some of them frowned at the thought of a fine looking man like him being done in. What a waste.

He cracked his neck to the side and spotted Mizore, giving her a wink as he was dragged towards a fate of uncertainty.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**A/N: That was chapter 10! I just had a ball with this one. So many Sin City references!**

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review! Lol, you can play "Jungle Trek" (youtube it) on the part where Tsukune enters the woods, if you want to.**

**To Mr. Sart Von Berchingen: Duly noted and thanks a lot for knocking some sense into me. A few days ago, I didn't even know what a "weebo" was until I googled it. I face palmed so hard after that. Welcome back by the way! If you don't mind my asking, are ya still going to continue "Hunter To Vampire"? Because I really loved that story. **

**And about the *cut to black* thing...yeah... I just wanted to try something out...**


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